


Hero of Gaipan

by VenusUberAlles



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass Sokka (Avatar), Engineer Sokka (Avatar), Episode: s01e10 Jet, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Lore (Avatar), Gen, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, The Fire Nation can be good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:07:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 46,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27414727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenusUberAlles/pseuds/VenusUberAlles
Summary: After Appa comes down with a life-threatening illness, Sokka sets off alone to find medicine for the sick sky bison. Time is of the essence; Aang must reach the North Pole to learn the elements before Sozin's Comet arrives. His journey brings him back to Gaipan: a town besieged by the rebel leader Jet and his Freedom Fighters. Bitter over his defeat, Jet vows to butcher Sokka for his treachery and raze the town to it's foundations. Sokka finds himself trapped in Gaipan and must join forces with unlikely allies to save himself and the town from certain destruction.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

_Our story begins with the broken down cart of a humble merchant of cabbage. On an ordinary day, this cabbage merchant would have returned to a small farm in the western Earth Kingdom to restock his supply, walking along a winding road carved into a mountain face. But on this particular day the front right wheel of his cart hit a small pebble on the road. The wheel gave way, causing the merchant to lose control of his cart. It plummeted off the hillside, lost to the world._

_A dozen kilometres further up the road, a young cabbage farmer waits patiently for the arrival of the merchant that promised to buy two crates of fresh produce. A week passes, but no merchant arrives. These cabbages sit in the hot crates, slowly wilting. The farmer was saved from having to dispose of his off goods by the arrival of a small squadron of hungry Fire Nation soldiers. They purchase eight crates of cabbage for a small military outpost in the Fire Nation colonies. But the soldiers neglected to check the contents of these crates, allowing the farmer to sell them the two crates of rotting cabbages._

_Further north still, the squadron of Fire Nation soldiers found themselves attacked by archers in the treetops. Arrows flew from from the canopy, striking down men desperately seeking cover against their wagon. The last surviving soldier found himself facing down a young man wielding two hooked swords. He spared nobody._

_As the last soldier fell to his blade, the young man commanded the other warriors to seize the contents of the Fire Nation wagon. On that day, the Freedom Fighters of Gaipan Forest capture six crates of harmless cabbage and two crates of rotten cabbage that would change the fate of the world. Because only a day later, they would be fed to a Sky Bison belonging to the Avatar himself._

* * *

Why did he ever think this was a good idea? He’d made it to the road an hour ago, only to find that the flash flood had turned it muddy and treacherous. The midday sun did little to dry away the water, leaving Sokka to slowly force himself through the quagmire. His shoes squelched as he walked. It felt like he’d need Katara’s waterbending to ever feel dry again. Four hours of walking and he was tired, exhausted and hungry. It would be sunset before he reached Gaipan at this rate. He hoped this road would have dried off in five days' time, because Sokka wasn’t looking forward to carrying the medicine for Appa back to the rendezvous point again in these conditions. 

The snap of a twig put Sokka on alert instantly. He drew his club and scanned the treeline warily for any movement. The thick canopy cast the forest in shadow, leaving Sokka straining to see through the darkness. Was there something lurking in the trees? 

He’d almost dropped his guard when he heard a whizzing sound piece the still air behind him from the other side of the road. 

Sokka turned slightly, just in time for a blinding pain to shoot up from his shoulder. He stumbled to the ground in pain, narrowly avoiding a second arrow aimed at his neck. Blood stained the blue of his watertribe tunic red. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he raised his club and knocked another arrow out of the sky. There was no time to rest, more arrows shot down from the treetops. Sokka dropped his bags and ran half stumbling into the forest for cover. Another arrow knicked him in the calf as ducked behind a tree. He hissed in pain as the arrow was nudged against bone as he rolled behind a tree.

 _Damn it. Damn it!_ Tears welled up in his eyes and he forced himself to keep his panic at bay. _Push through the pain and figure out a solution._ Just like a warrior should. 

Another arrow shot towards him and was deflected by his club, but this time Sokka could trace it’s path to a canopy. He ducked further behind the tree as another arrow whizzed past his face. Two seconds between shots. Struggling to block out the pain emanating from his arm, Sokka drew his boomerang. A split second to calculate the trajectory and he cast it into the forest. He watched anxiously as it shot through the canopies and was rewarded by a loud thwack. A figure fell from the tree, landing with a thud in the underbrush. Sokka didn’t have to look to know that the fall was fatal. 

His boomerang didn’t come back, but Sokka had eliminated the most pressing threat. 

There was little time to celebrate his minor victory. The other archer let loose a furious barrage of arrows, but the thick forest made Sokka hard to hit. He scrambled deeper into the treeline for safety. It hurt his pride to run like a coward, but the only way he could survive would be to escape further into the forest. White hot pain shot through him with every step and his lungs burned but Sokka had to push on. He ran blindly through the forest, pushing himself through low-hanging branches that scraped against his exposed skin painfully. The muddy floor squelched with every heavy footstep he took, but he was light footed enough to avoid slipping. 

Sokka reached a small break in the foliage and turned to examine his wound, sliding down against a tree for balance. As he suspected, an arrow was lodged deep in his upper arm. The sight made him feel sick in the stomach. Sokka couldn’t remove it, that’d only do more damage. But he couldn’t go on with the shaft sticking out from his flesh. He grit his teeth and grabbed the arrow in his hand and snapped the shaft clean off. He hissed as pain momentarily blinded him and waited a few seconds for it to fade. 

Just as he got to his feet, a cloaked figure charged through the canopies, leaping from branch to branch. 

“You killed him!” Jet screamed at Sokka as he brandished his two hooked swords. He dived down at the injured teen from the treetops like a hawk, swords glinting like talons. 

Sokka raised his club just in time to block the deadly strike that would have decapitated him had he been a millisecond slower. The impact sent shudders through his legs. He struggled to regain his footing on the slippery water-logged earth as Jet landed gracefully and swung the swords around at his weakened left arm. Again, Sokka barely blocked the attack, but the force of the impact made his wounds burn. 

“You killed my friend, Fire Nation traitor!” 

Jet struck quickly with a series of blows, punching through Sokka’s weakened defenses with sheer force alone. Each strike was blocked through instinctive reflexes and luck. And each one forced Sokka to stumble back. Jet thrust his right hand sword forward, putting his body weight behind the strike. Sokka leapt backwards to avoid the blade, but found himself pressed up against a tree. 

“I had no choice, he attacked me!”

“Because you deserved it!”

He rolled to the left, avoiding another jab aimed at his head and turned around to raise his club to block Jet’s followup attack. His attacker hooked his two swords together and used the extra reach to pound against Sokka’s defenses. Well-honed reflexes saved him from most strikes, but for each failure he was punished by another shallow cut. Jet’s eyes shone with sadistic glee as he sliced another mark into Sokka’s arms. 

The duel wielder pushed his offensive, showing no signs of tiredness while Sokka’s breathing was heavy and irregular. Blood loss and exhaustion took hold and his reactions slowed. As his vision dimmed, Sokka’s resolve faded. He was outmatched and tired, sooner or later he’d make a mistake and Jet would finish him off. 

Again and again, Jet swung at Sokka, waiting like a vulture for an opening in his defense to end the fight. Jet focused his strikes on the left, exploiting Sokka’s injury. As Sokka raised his club to block a slash from the left, he didn’t see the sword bearing down on him from the right until it was too late. With a cry of victory, Jet sliced deep into his lower torso. 

Sokka breathed heavily, staring numbly at the blade buried below his ribcage. With a casual flick, Jet withdrew the blood-stained sword. Sokka’s legs became numb and he stumbled backwards, dropping the club in the process. Jet twirled his blades with a satisfied smirk as his opponent tripped over a rock and landed roughly on his back. 

_I’m sorry Katara._

“I’m going to make you pay for your treachery, Fire Nation scum,” Jet snarled down at Sokka. He kicked him in the torso, digging his toes into the wound to make Sokka cry out in pain. 

Jet stalked over to Sokka’s arm and placed a kick against his left shoulder, which forced the arrow deeper into his body. “That’s for Longshot.” 

Sokka clenched his teeth. He wouldn’t let Jet know how painful this was. If he died, he’d die with dignity. He rolled over to try and stand up, but Jet kicked his arms out from underneath him and forced him back into the muddy earth. 

“Well, say something!” Jet screamed at him. “Or are you too ashamed, traitor!”

“You… you…” Sokka heaved, forcing air into his lungs. “You look stupid with that piece of hay in your mouth.”

Jet snarled and dropped the blood-covered sword. He gripped the other with both hands and stood over the exhausted body of his opponent. 

“Think you’re funny, traitor? Well, let’s see if you find this funny!” Jet drove the blade downwards, intending to impale Sokka through the chest. It descended as if in slow motion, glistening in the sunlight. He closed his eyes, preparing for the end. 

But it didn’t come. Sokka opened one eye wearily to see that Jet had paused his strike and seemed to be scanning the forest. It was then Sokka heard it, a faint rumbling sound that reverberated through the trees. He could feel the vibrations of something big approaching through the ground. 

“Enemy swordsman, dead ahead! Take him out!” a male voice shouted from somewhere above Sokka. Jet spun around, just in time to take a burst of fire to the chest.

Through his fading vision, Sokka saw a figure running into his field of vision, charging forward with a glaive and dressed head to toe in black and red armour. Jet smothered the fire on his chest and swung his swords at the figure, which were blocked by the shaft of the glaive. Another fireball shot out of the treeline and hit Jet in his right arm. He cried out in pain as the fire burned his flesh. Jet swung his swords wildly in an attempt to dissipate a rapid-fire bombardment of fireballs. 

Sokka could hear more people entering the clearing. Jet sensed that he was now outmatched and ran back into the forest, leaping for the safety of the canopy. Two more red-clad figures ran into the forest in pursuit, leaving behind the spear-wielding soldier. The man now turned to look down at Sokka, giving the young Water Tribesman an unobstructed view of an all too familiar helmet. 

“He’s alive! Quick, help me get him onto the Komodo Rhino.”

As Sokka began to lose consciousness he felt himself be roughly lifted into the air. His vision faded, until all he could see was the haunting skull-like mask of the Fire Nation soldier.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Keep pressure on his torso we're almost there!"_

_Sokka's head felt like it was swimming. It lurched in time with the movement of the ground beneath him. He could see shapes flashing across his field of vision, but they were blurry and faint._

" _He's losing consciousness again!"_

* * *

" _We need a healer!"_

" _What happened?!"_

" _This boy was attacked, he needs medical attention immediately!"_

* * *

" _That's him! He's the one that warned us about the attack!"_

" _They must have wanted revenge on the poor boy."_

" _Out! Out all of you! I need a clear space!"_

* * *

" _Laceration to the torso, puncture wound in the shoulder. By Agni, this kid's lucky to be alive."_

" _Well don't just stand there! Help me turn him over, I need to stitch that wound up!"_

* * *

" _Fetch me some probes, linens and disinfectant! We're going to have to remove the arrowhead!"_

* * *

" _Do you think he'll live?"_

" _Hard to say. Poor boy has lost a lot of blood and might still develop an infection. But he's strong, I think he has a fighting chance. Keep heat on the wound, if it gets infected he'll die."_

* * *

It was the cold Sokka felt first. A cool breeze blowing past him, causing goosebumps to appear on his exposed torso. And yet he felt strangely warm, like there was a heat radiating from inside him.

The next thing he became aware of was a flapping noise. It irritated him, but he was just so tired. He didn't want to open his eyes. Sokka stirred slightly, trying to get a more comfortable position and go back to sleep.

His eyes burst open as a flash of pain shot through him. Sokka lurched upwards, only managing to cause him even more pain. He hissed and moved his hand to his torso.

"Woah woah, easy there," a voice said from above him. Sokka's vision was blurry, but he could make out the form of an elderly woman kneeling down over him. The light of the oil lamps gave her brown saggy skin an waxy look. For a moment, Sokka thought he was back in the Southern Water Tribe being tended to by Gran-Gran after a day of bad hunting. But the brown woven fabric of the tent and blankets were unlike the skins and furs of his home village.

A calloused hand gently guided him back down onto the bed. "You've been hurt badly, if you keep moving it'll aggravate your wounds."

Sokka blinked to try and clear his vision. "Who are- where am I?"

"I'm Ah Lam, and you're in Gaipan. Or what's left of it."

Suddenly it all came crashing back on him. Appa sick. The ambush. Jet. And the _Fire Nation soldiers._

With only a fraction of a second to think, Sokka made a decision. He leapt up out of the bed, pushing past Ah Lam and stumbled towards the tent flap which fluttered in the breeze. With gritted teeth, he ignored the pain in his torso and shoulder that shot through him with every movement. Sokka burst out into the open air, nearly falling flat on his face as he lost his balance.

It was night, that much Sokka could tell. There were rows upon rows of tents lined up neatly on the dirt ground, each glowing with the light of lamps and campfires. To his right, Sokka could see a shadowy figure carrying a torch approaching. He made up his mind and sprinted to the left, ignoring Ah Lam's shouts of protest.

Sokka ran randomly through the array of tents, trying to make a break for the forest before the Fire Nation could recapture him. He had a vague sense of which way he was going, but was mostly just taking whatever route kept him away from those patrols.

"It's the rebels!" one of the men shouted as he took off in pursuit of the Water Tribe teen.

Just as Sokka could begin to see the treeline, he rounded the corner and crashed straight into the metal chestplate of a Fire Nation soldier. The man flinched and stumbled backwards, but managed to grab Sokka's flailing hands as the young boy fell backwards, unknowingly tearing at the wound in Sokka's shoulder making him cry out with pain.

"Woah, calm down. You're safe now," the soldier assured as he helped Sokka back on his feet. "The terrorists are gone."

"Get away from me!" Sokka shouted and tried to push past the larger armoured man, but the soldier simply stepped over to block his path.

"Let's start over," the soldier began, raising his hands in a placating motion like he was dealing with an energetic child. "I am Lieutenant Shin, and you must be the boy we found in the woods."

He hesitated slightly, then reached up to remove the skull-like faceplate of his helmet, revealing his face. Shin was pale, like most other Fire Nationals Sokka had seen, but there was a light amount of stubble on his face which made him look darker than he was. He couldn't have been much older than late twenties. His eyes were brown and met Sokka's gaze without flinching.

"You know, you really shouldn't be walking," Shin remarked. "You were hurt really badly. I'm surprised you're even awake, with injuries like that you should still be unconscious."

Sokka didn't know what to say, this was too surreal for him. Was a Fire Nation soldier really trying to compliment him?

The sound of boots on soft earth behind Sokka told him that his pursuers had caught up with him. He turned to see three Fire Nation soldiers, approaching from behind. Two had glaives pointed at his neck while the third had a bow pointed straight at him. They fanned out in a semicircle around him, blocking out any routes of escape.

"Sir, we spotted this boy running through the tents," the soldier with the bow said. Unlike his companions, his armour was made out of brown leather instead of black metal. "He might be one of the rebels."

The bowman was younger than his two companions, he couldn't be much older than Sokka himself. His face was rounder and clean-shaven but there was a stern look in his eyes. Meeting Sokka's gaze, the bowman drew back the arrow. Sokka gulped and turned away.

"Stand down Private Akio," Shin commanded. Obediently, the bowman released the tension on the arrow and held it loosely. "This is the boy we found on this morning's patrol," Shin contiuned. "He was ambushed by the rebel leader on the road into locals say he was responsible for foiling one of the terrorist's plots, the psycho must have wanted revenge."

The soldiers nodded and raised their weapons back into a resting position and stood at ease.

"Sorry sir, just being cautious," the bowman, Akio, said.

"Understandable, you can never be too cautious when dealing with insurgents. Return to your patrols. Not you Jiro. Help me escort the boy back to Ah Lam."

The soldier on Sokka's left nodded and took position while Shin moved to his right. They lightly pushed him forward, walking him back towards the healing tent. Sokka's eyes darted left and right, looking for a potential avenue of escape, but he couldn't go anywhere without being caught by the soldiers. Especially not with his wounds.

"So, what's your name?" Shin asked.

"Sokka," he replied automatically, then cursed himself. Why did he just give a Fire Nation soldier his real name?

"Sokka? I've never heard a name like that before," Jiro, the other soldier, commented. He was darker than the other soldiers (still paler than Sokka himself) and looked to be about the same age as Shin.

"Er, really? It's a fairly common name in my village," Sokka replied, trying to cover up his mistake. Why didn't he just say his name was Lee? There are millions of Lees.

"And where would that be?" Shin asked. "From the way you reacted to seeing us, you couldn't be from the core colonies and certainly not the Home Islands."

"Er… I'm from the Northern Earth Kingdom! Yeah, Northern Earth Kingdom! That's me!" Sokka forced a grin on his face. At least if they were going to kill him, he wouldn't be putting the Southern Water Tribe in danger.

"Ah, that makes sense," Jiro nodded, believing his lie. "Recently conquered areas need some time to get used to the regular presence of Fire Nation soldiers. Though I have to ask, if you're scared of the Fire Nation, why help Gaipan? Why did you betray Jet?"

This, Sokka could answer honestly. "What Jet's doing is wrong. This village is full of innocents, I couldn't let him kill them."

Jiro gave Sokka a smile. "You're a good man. It would have taken a lot of courage to stand up to those scum."

This was the second time he'd been complimented by Fire Nation soldiers in only a few minutes and he honestly didn't know what to say. It felt nice to be recognised, but this was something Sokka always dreamt of his dad saying to him when they saw each other again. It felt seriously weird to hear it coming from the enemy.

"There you are!" a voice said from behind him, giving Sokka a much needed distraction. He turned around to see Ah Lam hobbling towards him, using a carved walking stick to support herself.

"Idiot boy!" she shouted and raised her walking stick to tap it painfully on Sokka's forehead. "Running around while injured like that. You could have hurt yourself!"

"Ow!" Sokka cried as she hit him on the head again.

"We found him over near the storage tents," Shin reported.

"Thank you, dearie," she replied, then turned to Sokka and pointed to the soldiers. "You should be more like these young men! They don't go around causing a ruckus and giving poor old ladies heart attacks!"

"We'll leave him in your care. Call if he causes any trouble."

"I do not envy you," Jiro whispered to Sokka as he left.

The soldiers broke away, disappearing back into the maze of tents.

"You shouldn't be running with your injuries. It could cause the stitches to reopen," Ah Lam explained, the redness disappearing from her face. "Come back inside, I'll make you some calm refreshing tea."

Sokka followed meekly behind the old woman. He entered the warm air of the tent and was directed back to the thin mattress on the ground. It was only a few minutes before Ah Lam returned with a cup of tea.

"I know you've been through a lot, but you need your rest," she told him, placing the cup firmly in his hands and directing him to drink. "Now sleep, I'll return in the morning."

His eyelids felt heavy. Sokka realised suddenly how tired he was. Suddenly, being in a Fire Nation village just seemed so unimportant. He closed his eyes, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the sun that woke Sokka this time. It's golden rays shone brightly through the tent flap, right on Sokka's face. After trying to squeeze his eyes shut for a few more precious minutes of sleep, eventually Sokka was forced to get up. This time conscious of injuries to his shoulder and torso. He steadied himself on his feet and studied the tent. It was empty, the elderly healer wasn't there anymore. There was a neatly folded reddish-brown tunic at the foot of his bed, clearly Fire Nation design. Reluctantly, he donned the clothes laid out for him, wincing as he pushed his left arm through the sleeve. He resented the colour, but his own Water Tribe blue tunic was shredded and covered in dried blood.

Sokka walked over to the flap in the tent, ignoring the pain emanating from his injuries and stepped outside of the tent flap... right into somebody else. Their foreheads collided roughly and they both fell back from the tent flap.

"Woah, you surprised me!"

The stranger was a girl that appeared to be around his age or slightly younger, wearing a red tunic that ended just above her knees and loose brown pants. Her black hair was done up in a loose utilitarian bun, which kept her hair away from her tanned face.

"Hey, you're the person that warned us about the attack!" she grinned, staring into him with her golden eyes. "My name's Kimi, glad to see you up and about."

"I'm Sokka," he replied cautiously.

She held her hand out to him, which Sokka took after a moment's hesitation.

"I was there when you were brought in. Ah Lam had me heating your wounds. You did not look good. No offense."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "None taken."

"Ah Lam told me to check up on you, but I didn't expect you to be awake. I suppose now that you're up we should get you some breakfast," Kimi insisted, firmly holding his right arm incase Sokka lost his balance again and leading him out into the maze of tents. "I can introduce you to the rest of the village."

The rows of tents didn't look so intimidating in the bright morning sun. They were made of simple brown canvas which sagged under its own weight, reminding Sokka of piles of dirt. He saw three people sitting in a circle around a small campfire outside of one of the larger tents. As he got closer, he could see that what he thought was three people was actually five. Two of the people, a man and a woman, were holding small children tightly to their bodies. The third was a girl who couldn't be older than 10.

Kimi must have caught him staring, because she whispered to him the moment they were out of earshot.

"The attack displaced a lot of people. And not just from Gaipan, there were smaller villages downstream that were hit even harder than we were. They didn't get a warning," she recounted, grimacing slightly. "The Army came in and set up most of these tents. It keeps the rain off our heads, but a lot of families have been split so we could fit everybody in."

He snapped to look at her at the mention of other villages. Never had he stopped to consider where all that water would have gone. Kimi didn't say it, but her sullen look told Sokka all he needed to know. People had died in that flood.

Whatever happened, Aang and Katara could never be allowed to know this. If either of them found out they had killed innocent people, it would _destroy_ them.

Sokka had to duck to the side as two Fire Nation soldiers passed him, carrying wooden planks on their shoulders towards the remains of the town.

"We're hoping to rebuild before winter really sets in, but with those Agni-forsaken terrorists lurking in the forest it's hard to bring in materials."

He couldn't help but feel a stab of pity. Even if these people were Fire Nation, they didn't deserve this.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he offered lamely.

Kimi laughed ruefully. "So am I."

As he rounded a corner the muddy ground gave way beneath Sokka's feet, causing him to slip forward slightly. Luckily, he stayed on his feet. But the unexpected movement sent waves of pain up his spine. He hissed sharply and held the wound in his torso to try and suppress the pain.

"Are you alright?" Kimi asked.

"Never better."

"We can go back, if you want? I'll bring breakfast back to you."

"No," Sokka refused. "I'm not going to waste time lying around."

He meant what he said. If there was one thing Sokka didn't like, it was feeling useless. To his tribe, to his sister and to himself. If he couldn't work up the strength to get breakfast, what kind of warrior would he be?

"Suit yourself," Kimi shrugged.

They arrived at what Sokka assumed was the centre of the tents. A large tarpaulin was draped over a collapsible metal frame, providing shelter for a neat line of people waiting for food and rows of crates which were being used as tables by a group of soldiers. After waiting in line for what felt like hours behind Kimi, he reached the front of the improvised cafeteria. A chef dumped a ladle of rice and some kind of soup in his bowl and gruffly shooed him away.

"Over here Sokka," Kimi said, waving to him from a small wooden box next to the soldiers. Not seeing a better option, Sokka weaved through the crowd and sat opposite her on the box.

He had his apprehensions about eating anything made by a Fire Nation chef, but eventually his hunger won out. Curse his insatiable appetite. Sokka spooned some of the soup into his mouth, only to immediately gag. It tasted like rotten penguin meat!

Kimi must have seen the look of revulsion on his face, because her face broke into a wide grin.

"Are you enjoying your food?"

"It's very… bracing," he managed.

"I know it's not the greatest," Kimi sighed. "But all we have to make food with these days is army rations and whatever survived the flood."

Sokka stared at the soup, willing it to morph into something tasty. Like seared penguin or stewed sea prunes. But his hunger hadn't faded, so Sokka shovelled in another spoonful of the soup and then another. Within five minutes, he'd finished his breakfast then looked up to see Kimi placing the last spoonful of rice into her mouth. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Well I've never seen anybody keep up with me in eating," Kimi remarked.

"Keep up? I beat you!"

"Yeah well you're a boy. _I_ am a lady. So you have an advantage."

He laughed with her, momentarily forgetting his mission or the fact that he was basically a prisoner here. It felt nice. But unfortunately they weren't alone. A few of the soldiers on the nearby table had paused their conversations to glance over at the two teenagers.

"Well what do you know, the dead walk!" a female voice shouted over to them. Sokka turned to see a middle-age female hold up a cup in a mock toast. "I tell you what kid, when we picked you up I didn't think you'd make it. Guess I owe Akio ten copper."

The sight of the familiar red and gold uniforms was like a splash of cold water in his face. Sokka's smile faded. He couldn't allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of security by his enemies again.

"Lay off him Teja," a man Sokka recognised as Jiro said, nudging the woman.

"I'm just messing around, no need to start anything" Teja replied, raising her hands in mock surrender.

Jiro leaned over to Sokka. "Don't take her words too harshly. Teja's just a loud-mouth."

"Oh piss off dirt-thrower," she drawled, then turned back to Sokka. "By the way, you owe me one for hitting Jet."

"You fought their leader?!" Kimi interrupted. She scooted over to the older woman and looked up at her with an awed in her golden eyes. Meanwhile Jiro silently mouthed ' _not again'_ behind Teja's back.

"Oh I most certainly did. There I was, patrolling the forest, killing any terrorist I came across like a good soldier of the Fire Nation. And then, low and behold, I came face to face with Jet himself, about to strike down this helpless traveller. Alone, I charged at him and struck forward, burning him in the chest! He faltered before my unrelenting attack, driven back by each fireball I threw at him. Like a coward, he ran, but I gave chase. And I nearly had him! But he slipped away."

Jiro rolled his eyes. "At least half of that didn't happen."

"Shut up Jiro, I didn't see you land a hit on him."

"We've been over this already, I wasn't part of that patrol."

"Sounds like an excuse to me," Teja finished, poking Jiro's nose childishly.

Another soldier excused himself and leaned over to the two teenagers. "Teja hasn't shut up about getting a hit on the rebel leader all day. I swear, I'd rather be sent naked on a march to the walls of Ba Sing Se than hear her say how Jet 'wept with fear' as she burned him one more Agni-damned time."

Sokka couldn't help but chuckle. If you ignored the red colours and sweltering temperature, this was just feasts to celebrate a successful hunt back home. The men of the Southern Water Tribe would always share increasingly embellished tales of strength and valour as they shared the spoils of their hunt, or at least that's how Sokka remembered it. He always wished one day he would have stories of his own to share with his father and the others.

"Oh, that reminds me," the soldier said. "We recovered this from the forest. Thought you might like it back."

He reached down next to his legs and pulled out a blue bag that was familiar to Sokka. His travel pack! The soldier tossed it to him. Sokka caught the pack and opened it eagerly, pulling out something he didn't think he'd ever see again.

"Boomerang! You do always come back!" he shouted, hugging his weapon lovingly.

Kimi studied the weapon curiously. "What is that?"

For the third time since he came here, Sokka cursed himself. As far as he was aware, no other civilisation used boomerangs as a weapon. Why didn't he just mark the Southern Water Tribe down on a map for them?

"It's a weapon. You throw it at things."

Teja snorted. "I'll say. It made a right mess out of that archer we found it next to."

"Sounds lethal," Kimi noticed. "How do you get one of those?"

"You don't just 'get' them. It's a traditional weapon. Given to warriors only."

"So is that what you are, some kind of warrior?"

Sokka bristled at the question. Kimi had enough tact to realise this was a touchy subject for him.

"Come," she said, changing the subject. "I'll show you what's left of our village."

* * *

" _But Dad, I want to go with you!" Sokka protested. He trailed eagerly after his father, struggling against the thick snow which shone a brilliant white in the early morning sunlight._

" _Sokka, you know you're too young to go hunting," Hakoda consoled. "I promise you I'll take you when you're older, but not right now. You're not ready."_

" _But I am ready! I've been training with the club you gave me all week!" he protested, waving the small training club in his hands wildly._

" _Hush Sokka, you'll wake your sister," his mother said as she gently rocked a small bundle in her arms. She held the bundle closely, shielding Katara from the cold._

_He ignored his mother's words and ran, half stumbling, further into the snow where the men were loading a boat with supplies for their expedition. His small feet sunk into the boot prints left by his father, but Sokka wasn't to be deterred._

" _Why can't I go with you?" he demanded, breathing heavily from exertion._

_Hakoda knelt down so he was eye-level with his son._

" _Sokka, I admire your enthusiasm. Tell you what, if you stay here and keep the tribe safe, I'll teach you how to use one of my favourite weapons," he promised. Hakoda shrugged off the knapsack and rummaged around inside it, pulling out a crescent-shaped object._

" _This is a boomerang, one of the traditional weapons of our people. Your grandfather taught me how to use this many winters ago. It is a weapon for only the most cunning of warriors."_

_Sokka gazed at the boomerang with wide eyes. It was nearly the size of his arm._

" _Woah," he breathed._

" _One day, you'll be a fine warrior," Hakoda continued. "But right now you're needed here, helping your mum care for your sister. I'm trusting you to keep them safe, OK?"_

_Sokka's chest swelled with pride. "You can count on me dad! If any Fire Nation meanies come, I'll fight them all off!"_

_He gave his small training club a few swings into the air. Hakoda chuckled lightheartedly and tousled Sokka's hair._


	4. Chapter 4

Sokka stood on a hill overlooking Gaipan. At least, what was left of it. The stone walls of the town had been shattered, with many of the buildings Sokka remembered from his last visit gone entirely. In their place were piles of wooden planks and other debris, piled up where houses used to be so that pathways could be cleared. Whatever had survived, like the church at the centre of town, looked ready to collapse at any moment. The river, once little more than a creek, now lapped at what used to be the wall of the town. It was huge! Gaipan's old bridge had to be either submerged beneath the water or destroyed entirely.

Even from up here, he could see men and women swarming around the wreckage, rebuilding their home. Fire Nation soldiers were using a strange pulley device to lift stacks of wood to the upper level of what looked like the beginnings of a watchtower while civilians hammered planks into the frames of new houses.

"Watch out!" a voice shouted out from behind him. Sokka turned just in time to duck out of the way of a Komodo Rhino which was pulling a cart full of red terracotta tiles to the building site. Jiro and the other soldiers from breakfast were keeping up a jogging pace behind the large creature.

"Yeah, _I'm_ the one who should be watching out," Sokka grumbled. "What are they even doing?"

"The soldiers help out with the rebuilding. Each soldier is trained in basic construction, so they can set up camps and fortifications quickly on campaigns and the like. Come on, let's keep going. Seeing the town like this is depressing."

Kimi led Sokka down the hill to the gate built into the wooden palisade built around the town. He would never admit it, but Sokka was impressed with the Fire Nation's construction skills. It had taken him months to construct the barricade around his village. The Fire Nation had built one around Gaipan in a day.

They approached a small gap in the wall designed as a gate. Two soldiers were standing guard and though they looked bored and tired, they snapped to attention as Kimi and Sokka approached.

"Morning, Kimi," the soldier on the left greeted politely, nodding slightly to the girl.

"Morning, Yun," she greeted back. "May we pass?"

"Go right ahead. Give my regards to your grandfather when you see him, alright?"

Kimi chuckled, "I'll be sure to tell him you said hi."

The soldier nodded and moved out of the way. Just as they were passing, the other soldier seemed to notice Sokka for the first time.

"Just a moment, who's this?" he said, fixing the young man with a piercing stare. Sokka shifted uncomfortably in his fur boots. Did the soldier know who he was? As discreetly as he could manage, Sokka's eyes darted to the forest. He cursed silently. With his injuries, he wouldn't even make it halfway to the treeline before the soldiers caught up with him.

But instead of raising his weapon, the soldier laughed. "Made a new friend, eh Kimi? Does Amar know?"

Kimi glared back at the soldier. "He's not _that_ kind of friend."

"I'm just messing with you, I remember this boy from yesterday. Lieutenant Shin's patrol found him a few miles north of here all banged up. Speaking of which, you should probably head in. I'm sure Ah Lam wants to check on her patient again. Unless you want to do some _checking_ for yourself.

"Up yours Kazuo."

Kazuo and Yun's laughter faded as the two teenagers left the soldiers at the gap in the wall and stepped out into Gaipan. Up close, Sokka marveled at how busy it looked. Wooden planks were being nailed together by some women to his left while men and soldiers worked together to raise up a whole wall section of a house. He had to hand it to the Fire Nation, they were very efficient.

"Did you know those guys?" Sokka asked, breaking the silence.

"Only distantly. They were the last group of soldiers my grandfather trained before he retired."

"You grandfather trained soldiers?"

"Oh yeah," Kimi sighed wistfully, "Every summer he'd take me into the big city with him while he trained the colony's newest recruits swordsmanship. Some of my best memories are those summers."

Sokka trailed behind Kimi closely, hoping that these Fire Nation people would just forget he was there, but it was a wasted effort. Everywhere he went, people stared and whispered. They nodded or gave him thanks as he passed. It was overwhelming. These people were Fire Nation, why did it feel good to be thanked by them? They might have been civilians, but the red banners and soldiers around the town told him enough about where their allegiances lay.

As Sokka rounded the corner, he spotted the same handful of soldiers trying to set up another one of those strange pulley devices he saw from the hill.

"Hey, it's our friends from breakfast!" Teja shouted over to them as she pulled a taut rope to the base of the crane while Jiro mounted a large metallic wheel to the back of it with Akio.

"Here, let me help you with that," Kimi offered. She joined Teja and managed to hook the rope around a metal fastener.

"Thanks. Hey while you're here, do you mind helping us set up the rest of the crane?"

Kimi and Sokka looked at each other and shrugged. It's not like he had anything better to do. And if he could gain enough trust to give him an opportunity to escape, all the better.

"Great!" Akio said. "Kimi, can you help Jiro and Teja with the pulleys? Sokka, I'll need your help setting up the mechanism."

Up close, Sokka could examine the machine more closely. It was a wooden box, with a long metal arm coming out one end. Tied to the metal pole were a bunch of pulleys that looked like the rigging of one of the Water Tribe ships. The metal pole was itself tied to ropes that spanned behind the machine to wrap around another pulley and disappear into the body. The body itself sat snuggly on a raised carriage. Sokka's eyes drank in every detail. He hadn't ever been given the opportunity to study one of the Fire Nation's infamous machines up close.

"Alright Sokka, I'm going to need you to attach this crank to the other end," Akio instructed, passing over a metallic pole with a circle on one end. "There should be some screws on that end, I'll work on setting up the gears."

Sokka took the pole and examined it. The circle had holes in it. So did the side of the crane. There were also small metal spiral-looking things near the hole. He lined them up with the holes on the crank and twisted them through tightly with a nearby metal tool. After a few minutes, he stepped back to admire his handiwork. The crank was attached snuggly to the side of the crane.

Take that, Fire Nation! Your technology wasn't hard to figure out after all!

"Well would you look at that, you've finished!. Now, come look here. I want to show you where the real magic happens."

Akio beckoned him over to a hatch on the roof of the crane. Sokka peared down into it, and was met with the sight of a complex arrangement of metal gears, rope and chains. He took back what he'd thought earlier, Fire Nation technology nothing to scoff at. Many of these components he could only guess the purpose of.

"Woah," Sokka exhaled, drinking in every detail. "All this to lift up some tiles?"

"Hey, it's convenient. I'll show you."

The others had finished setting up the pulleys and had loaded a stack of wooden planks on a platform at the tip of the crane arm. Kimi and Sokka stepped aside and watched in awe as Jiro and Teja worked together to move the crank which caused the arm to rise into the sky until the rope was taut.

"Now, you try to lift this," Akio challenged, directing Sokka over to the pulley.

"Oh I suppose I'll do it one handed?" he shot back, gesturing at his bandaged arm for emphasis.

But Akio just shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Meekly, Sokka moved up to the crank, preparing himself for the inevitable humiliation. No man alive could lift up all that by themselves, let alone an injured one. What were they trying to prove?

He gripped the crank and pulled with all his might. But to his surprise, it moved easily. The unexpected lack of resistance caused Sokka to fall backwards onto the dirty ground.

The three soldiers and Kimi all burst into roaring laughter. Sokka blushed red. Why did he always find a way to embarrass himself?

"Come on, let's get you back up," Kimi sniggered as her laughter subsided. She offered a hand, which Sokka gladly took. He looked up, to where Akio and Teja were working together on the crane, lifting the load up to the upper floor of the house. Neither of them seemed to be straining themselves in any way. Great, now the Fire Nation had figured out how to defy gravity.

Kimi and Sokka worked with the soldiers until the sun had begun to set. He helped out where he could. They set up the framework for two houses, disassembling and reassembling that crane device at each house, stopping only to eat lunch (which Sokka dug into readily). Sokka idley made small talk with Kimi as they worked. It was weird, but he felt useful here. Even if these people were enemies. Back home, he always felt that no matter what he did, his tribe was always on the brink. It was like he was drowning and couldn't swim. But seeing a town spring up out of the riverbank filled him with a strange sense of pride he hadn't felt in a long time.

And, to his immense glee, Sokka had finally figured out how the crane worked. It used a series of gears and pulleys to convert a small force applied over a long distance to a large force applied over a short distance. Despite his misgivings, he found himself fascinated by the Fire Nation's technology. Now that he knew how the crane worked, it made so much sense.

"Uh, this is torture!" Teja complained after they'd hoisted another pile of supplies onto the roof. "Come on Jiro, I'm too tired to do this again. Can't you just move the tiles to the roof?"

"You'll have to ask nicely!" Jiro sang in a teasing voice.

Teja rolled her eyes and gave him a mocking bow. "Fine, oh mighty dirt thrower. Would you please help me?"

"That's all you had to say!"

Jiro gave Teja a smug look and assumed a wide-legged stance and faced the stacked tiles. Sokka watched closely, eager to see another demonstration of the Fire Nation's strange engineering.

Instead, Jiro stomped once on the ground. And before Sokka's unbelieving eyes, the tiles leapt off the ground and hovered in the air.

"You're an Earthbender!" Sokka shouted.

"Well yeah," Jiro said, guiding the pile on the roof of the house.

A million thoughts raced through Sokka's head. There were Earthbenders in the Fire Nation Army? How did this happen? Was Jiro being forced to fight, or was he just an Earth Kingdom traitor? His thoughts were so jumbled that when he opened his mouth again he simply said the question he was thinking about at that moment.

"Why didn't you just use earthbending to make houses?"

He facepalmed internally. Really, he had the opportunity to learn possibly crucial information about the capabilities of the Fire Nation army, and _that's_ the first thing he asks?

"Earthbending is good for making temporary structures," Jiro explained. "But the earth has to come from somewhere. If you just pull it up from the ground you leave gaps in the soil which makes your structures prone to collapse."

Damn it all, that made sense but it didn't do anything to answer any of the thousands of burning questions he still had! Why was an Earthbender concerned about making Fire Nation houses stable in the first place?

"Trust him, Jiro's our combat engineer," Teja added.

Sokka's incoherent spluttering was interrupted by an outburst from Kimi.

"Grandpa!" she shouted, waving to an approaching man.

The man looked like he was in his mid sixties. Even though he was half a head shorter than Sokka, he stood tall and proud with his greying hair tied up in a formal top-knot and his small beard trimmed carefully. His clothes were simple, but pressed and cleaned to perfection. As he got closer, Sokka could see the family resemblance between him and Kimi. They shared the same high cheekbones and golden eyes.

"I expected you back home hours ago. Where were you?" Amar demanded in an icy cold voice, striding up to his granddaughter. Sokka wasn't even the target of his ire and he still felt a shiver go down his spine.

But if Kimi felt intimidated, she didn't show it. "I had breakfast with Sokka, then helped the soldiers. It's not like I was out in the forests again."

"This town is surrounded by insurgents. You should have told me where you were."

It was so quiet Sokka swore he could have heard a pin drop. Kimi's grandfather had the kind of commanding presence that could make everybody around him go silent. Even the normally loud soldiers didn't dare speak.

"Until the threats to this town have been dealt with, I expect you to not disappear on me again. Do you understand?"

Kimi lips tightened, but she held her tongue and nodded in acceptance.

"Good. Now, Sokka, wasn't it? I must offer you my thanks for your warning. You've done this town a great service," Amar thanked him in the same soft voice and gave him a slight bow. Sokka copied the action instinctively. Bowing was important to Fire Nation people, right?

"Ah Lam is expecting you. I advise you to hurry, she doesn't like her patients wandering around construction sites."

Akio stepped forward. "Master Amar, would you like me to escort him?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on the old man's face. "Master? I haven't been a master of anything in many years."

"I'm sure you skills have not dulled, sir."

"Ah, you must be one of mine. Akio, right?"

Akio beemed. "You remember me!"

"I never forget any of my students. Have you finally learnt where to place your right foot in a parry?"

"Yes sir!"

"Very well then. You should be up to the task of keeping a teenager out of trouble. Take him to Ah Lam."

Akio bowed respectfully and gestured for Sokka to follow him, leading him down the road away from the group while Kimi followed Amar the other way. She turned and shouted over her shoulder, "Bye Sokka!"

"Bye, Kimi," he replied politely, giving her a wave before turning away. Was it wrong for him to be so cordial with a Fire Nation citizen?

Akio led him to a sheltered clearing at the centre of town. In the middle, Ah Lam was fussing over a cauldron. Sokka didn't know what was in it, but it smelt nothing like the breakfast he'd had. That was to say, it actually smelt like something he'd enjoy eating. She was cutting up bits of a red-leafed plant Sokka didn't recognise when she looked up to see them.

"Goodness, where have you been?" she muttered, sliding the plant into the cauldron with a knife.

Akio answered for him. "Kimi found him awake, he's been with her since morning."

"Well thank you for bringing him here, dearie. Would you like to stay and try some of my Ashflower Soup?"

"That sounds lovely, but I'm afraid I can't. Still got a lot of work to do."

"Well then don't let me keep you."

Akio bowed respectfully and left, leaving Sokka alone with the elderly healer.

"Now, let me just run some quick tests," she said, grabbing his left forearm and twisted it slightly. "Does that hurt?"

"No," he replied.

"Good, now how about if I press here?"

She dug a thumb into his shoulder blade, causing a slight amount of pain.

"That hurts a bit."

"Excellent! Your muscles are healing very quickly and there's minimal damage to your tendons. Take a seat over there and I'll apply some salve to your torso after I finish up here."

Ah Lam returned to the cauldron, leaving Sokka to his thoughts. Left alone, his mind drifted towards the afternoon's revelation. How did an Earthbender come to work for the Fire Nation? And from the lack of reaction from anybody, Sokka could tell that Jiro wasn't an anomaly. Jiro didn't seem like he was forced to do anything, so what could drive him to betray his kingdom for the Fire Nation? Sokka couldn't imagine Katara or any of the other Southern Watertribesmen betraying the tribe. Jiro seemed like a nice guy, for a Fire Nation soldier. He certainly didn't seem like somebody who would betray his nation, and yet he fought on the side of the army that imprisoned people like him on sight.

By the spirits, when did getting a sick Sky Bison medicine become so difficult?

"Is something wrong?" Ah Lam asked, interrupting his thoughts. "You've been staring off into space for five minutes."

Honestly, Sokka had forgotten she was here. He stood up automatically, like he'd been caught doing something bad.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Logic told him that he should keep his mouth shut. His loose tongue had already put his tribe at risk, Sokka didn't want to confide in the enemy again.

And yet, if there was one thing that could overpower his sane mind, it was his curiosity. That and his stomach.

"Why are there Earthbenders in the Fire Nation army?"

Ah Lam seemed surprised by his question, "Oh dearie, is that what's bothering you? Come, sit. I'll tell you a story while I fix up your torso."

Sokka took a seat on a wooden crate, next to the fire. He was confused, how was a story going to answer his question? But he still waited patiently for Ah Lam to begin.

"I might not look it, but I'm the oldest person in Gaipan," she began, laughing to herself as she dabbed salve on his wound.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Right…"

"I'm the only one old enough to remember what this village was like before the Fire Nation conquered it."

He was suddenly interested. "You are? What was it like?"

"Hard. Gaipan was connected to the rest of the province by a single road on the side of a mountain. One day, an earthquake wiped the entire road out, leaving us cut off. We import food, so without that road we starved. It took a whole year before the local lord even answered our letters, but still nothing happened. The town was on the brink, but everything changed when the Fire Nation arrived."

"What happened?" Sokka asked, on the edge of his seat. He already knew what would happen next: the men and women of Gaipan, starved and outnumbered, bravely stood up to the Fire Nation but were ultimately defeated.

"They carved a path right through the forest, that's the road we found you on, and planted a flag in the centre of town. We welcomed them as saviours. The Fire Nation didn't even know this town existed, they just wanted to make a road through the forest and came across us by chance. But when they found us, the new Fire Nation governor sent us food and supplies as a gesture of goodwill. To them, this was just their way of keeping the conquered people happy and compliant. But to us, it was like a gift from the spirits. They finished the road, connecting us to the rest of the world. It only took them a few weeks to build what the Earth Kingdom couldn't do in a year."

"Why didn't you fight back? The Fire Nation came to conquer you!"

"Conquer. Liberate. It's all a matter of perspective. People of the Northwest Earth Kingdom have a different relationship with the Fire Nation to the rest of the continent, for very good reasons. Are you familiar with the Great Plague?"

Sokka nodded slowly. Gran-Gran had told him stories about the Great Plague. Nobody knew how it started, but it swept through the world like wildfire. He'd been told stories about how his ancestors had sailed to deliver aid to the Fire Nation capital itself in the midst of the outbreak over a century ago.

 _Didn't stop them from raiding us,_ Sokka thought bitterly.

Ah Lam gave the cauldron a quick stir and returned back to him. "I grew up hearing stories about it. Gaipan was isolated, so the plague didn't reach us. But it ravaged the rest of the land. Millions of people died, which caused food shortages everywhere. I hear the Fire Nation was hit even worse than we were. And then one year, it just stopped. The Fire Nation had invented this new kind of medicine they said would make us all immune to the plague. With it, they wiped the disease from every single one of their islands."

Sokka scooted to the edge of his seat, eager to hear more of the story. The Fire Nation could do that? Just wipe a disease out like it was nothing?

Why was such a power in the hands of such an evil nation?

"The ascension of Fire Lord Sozin marked a turning point for our people. He was ambitious, and turned his sights to our shores. He negotiated new trade deals with the provinces, slowly gaining more influence over the economy. Some saw it as an invasion, but others were just happy that somebody had brought order and prosperity back to the lands. He shared this miracle medicine with us freely, eradicating the disease here too. The Earth King left us to rot, just like he had always done for every province that wasn't useful to Ba Sing Se. The Fire Lord might have just wanted our resources, but he gave us safety and prosperity in return. It didn't take us long to realise Caldera was a lot closer than Ba Sing Se, and ruled by far more generous leaders. So when Sozin started formalising his control over Yu Dao and other coastal cities, we welcomed it."

Ah Lam's face flickered by the light of the fire. He realised with a start he'd been listening to her for an hour now. The sun was now setting behind the forests.

A loud whizzing sound snapped him out of his stupor. Ah Lam turned sharply to the cauldron. "Oh, it seems like the soup is done. You should be going now, unless you want to be caught between hungry men and their dinner."

She tapped a small metallic device set on the bench, and the whizzing stopped. Seeing his hungry eyes, she poured him a bowl and hurried him outside just as people were filing into the room. Sokka found a nice crate to sit on and dug into the steaming bowl.

Tui and La, this soup was heavenly! He slurped the soup down quickly, happy to have something warm and filling in his belly. It left Sokka hungry for more, but with food as sparse as it was now he doubted they'd be leftovers.

"Sokka!" a voice shouted over to him. Sokka turned to see Kimi jogging over to him, a bowl in her hands.

"Hey Kimi," he greeted politely.

"How are your injuries?"

"Alright, Ah Lam said I was healing very quickly."

"Well good to hear!"

They sat in awkward silence next to each other, until Sokka spoke up. "So, how did it go with your grandfather?"

Kimi sighed dramatically. "He thinks I can't take care of myself! Ever since those rebels surrounded the place, he hasn't let me hunt in the woods, even when the village starts to run low on food. I know I can help, but he won't let me!"

"Oh sure, it's not like Jet's gang is patrolling these woods looking for people to kill," Sokka drawled, thinking back to that old man Jet had attacked. Where was he anyway? He hadn't seen him yet.

"They can't have been too good at it, if _you_ survived," she shot back with a grin, but it seemed forced. "Still, it hurts. I know I can do so much, but he won't let me."

"I know the feeling," he admitted.

"Who was it for you?"

"My father. I wanted to help provide for my village, but he always said I wasn't ready. But since he's been gone and I've had to take over his responsibilities, I feel like he may have been right."

Kimi took a long pause before responding. "My father is in the army. He's a great man, takes after grandfather in that regard. And ever since he left, I've felt like I have to fill his shoes."

"It's hard, isn't it?"

"Indeed."

They finished the rest of their meals in silence, until Kimi spoke up again. "Come, I should show you where you'll be sleeping tonight."

She helped him up and led him down the streets. As he passed by the people of the village, Sokka felt like there was something off about them he just couldn't put his finger on. They all looked the same, but there was something palpable in the air.

It hit him suddenly. They were scared. As they worked, they would glance to the forest as if it was about to lurch forward and bury the town. Without the light of the sun, it seemed like their courage had deserted them.

"You can see it too, huh" Kimi remarked. She turned to the forest. In the dark of the night, the trees looked like hands reaching up to clutch at the sky. They cast menacing shadows in the moonlight.

"They're watching us. I can feel it," she whispered.

A shiver raced down his spine as wind whistled through the distant canopies.

"You know what Kimi, I think you may be right."

Sokka arrived at a large house. This one seemed old, it must have been one of the few ones to survive the flood. It was situated on a small hill at the town's edge. On this side of town, parts of the original wall still looked intact. The house itself was large, built in a style Sokka hadn't seen before. This must be Fire Nation architecture.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home," Kimi said.

"This is your house?"

"My Grandfather's. But I live here. Don't get any ideas though, Grandpa offered his house to a lot of displaced people, so you'll be sharing" she told him as she pushed open the door to reveal a floor covered in sleeping bags packed tightly together, some filled with people. "Your spot is over there."

Sokka bid goodnight to Kimi, who made her way upstairs while he carefully stepped over the sea of people to reach the small spot in the corner of the room, next to a flickering fireplace. The shadows cast by the flames made the floor hard to see, so it was slow progress. But with a content sigh, he shrugged off his bag and slid into the sleeping bag, the soft flames providing him with much needed warmth. All was quiet, except for his own thoughts and the crackle of the fire.

He hadn't taken the time to really think about what he'd learnt today. After hearing Ah Lam's story, Sokka could almost sympathise with these collaborators. Seeing all the Fire Nation's technology and capacity for benevolence, Sokka could understand why some people might have been fooled into thinking the Fire Nation were the good guys. He'd spent most of this day seeing Fire Nation soldiers help Gaipan rebuild, seemingly out of the goodness of their hearts. They certainly had capacity for good. But these Fire Nation collaborators were still enablers of an evil empire that brought war and death wherever they went.

Only here, they didn't. If he hadn't seen them raze the village on Kyoshi Island or ruthlessly raid his home, he would probably see the Fire Nation as the good guys in Ah Lam's story too. Instead of war and death, they had brought a better standard of living to an entire region. It didn't make sense, how could they have been so good and turn so evil? Surely even if the Fire Nation was benevolent, it wasn't a justification for betraying your country?

Did they not even see the Earth Kingdom as their country? Jiro and Ah Lam certainly weren't singing the Earth King's praises. As far as they were concerned, the Earth King and by extension the entire Earth Kingdom had abandoned them. In the Southern Water Tribe, a chief had a duty to his people and his people had a duty to their chief. If the Earth King ignored his duties, perhaps the people were justified in holding no loyalty to him. Could you really be called conquerors if the people you conquer want to be part of your nation in the first place? Ah Lam was right. Conquer or Liberator, you ask two different people and you'd get two different stories.

It was all very confusing for Sokka. Nothing seemed to add up with what he knew about the war. These thoughts plagued his dreams as he slept, waiting for what tomorrow would hold.

Though he had to admit, being captured by the Fire Nation wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.


	5. Chapter 5

Sokka stared into the black sockets of the skull faceplate in front of him. A Fire Nation helmet looked a lot less intimidating without an occupant, he decided.

The sun was high in the sky when Sokka woke up that morning. He was the last to wake, which was how he found himself alone in the home of a Fire Nation veteran. In the late morning sun, he could see all the details about the room he missed when he'd stumbled tiredly here last night. It was covered in Fire Nation memorabilia. From a large intricate Fire Nation flag in one corner of the room to the swords mounted on the wall. There was even a set of armour carefully mounted on a frame, next to what looked like a shrine complete with unlit candles.

Though the walls weren't fully covered in Fire Nation... stuff. There were very impressive paintings and drawings hung on the wall. The closest to Sokka was a painting of a tree over a pond, only instead of green the leaves were a soft pink colour. Another was of a small town at the foot of a snow-capped mountain. There were drawings of animals and plants Sokka had never seen before. But more of the space was taken up by furniture that had clearly been pushed to the wall to make the floor clear.

It was the armour that drew his curiosity. He'd never seen a full set that wasn't worn by somebody either trying to kill him or more recently trying to save him (to his continued disbelief). The armour was well maintained, it's black metal shone in the sunlight. But despite this, there were chinks and dents in plates Sokka didn't think were just aesthetic. This armour was not just an elaborate decoration piece: it had seen war.

He reached forward to examine the helmet, but a voice stopped him.

"I'd appreciate it if you refrain from touching my armour."

His outstretched hand snapped back as if it had been burned. He turned to see Amar standing at the base of the stairs giving him an imperious look.

"Er, I thought I saw a spider…" Sokka lied lamely.

"Right. Well if you see the spider again, tell it I don't like grimey teenagers touching my armour."

A long silence followed. Sokka rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Amar was still standing there, like he was waiting for something.

"I'm sorry I was going to touch it, I was just curious," Sokka tried, hoping that would be enough to satisfy the older man.

Amar raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so interested in Fire Nation armour?"

"Well…" Sokka glanced nervously around the room, trying to think up a reason that would be good enough. "I was wondering, why do some of you have that skull faceplate and some of you don't?"

Amar smiled slightly at the question. He strided over to the fireplace and stood before it with his hands clasped behind his back, facing away from Sokka.

"Fire," he began. "Is the beginning and end of all things. It has a dual nature. It is the spark that gives us life and the flame that lays us to rest. It's not like the other elements, fire is _alive._ "

Sokka moved over to stand next to him, intrigued. He wasn't sure what this had to do with armour, but tried to see what Amar was seeing within the flames. It did almost look alive as it lapped at the air searching for more fuel.

"Fire can give life. The plants and animals of this world all rely on the sun's warmth. It can even cauterise and encourage the healing of injuries."

"But it can also take life?" Sokka finished for him.

Amar gave Sokka a sideways look. "Yes, it can. Fire is also a roaring inferno that can swallow cities whole. It can take life just as easily as it can provide for it."

Sokka scowled internally. He didn't need to be told that fire could take life. There was not a person in the South Pole that didn't know that.

Amar turned back to the fire and stoked it with a metal poker, causing it to flare up. "A soldier of the Fire Nation becomes acquainted with this nature of fire. Firebenders are especially attuned to it."

"With all due respect, what does this have to do with my question?" Sokka asked, getting impatient. He was hungry damn it!

"I can see why you get along so well with my granddaughter, you're just as impatient as her," he sighed. "The mask is our insignia. It signifies our connection to the destructive nature of fire. It's typically only granted to firebenders, but nonbenders who show a propensity towards this nature can also be marked as such."

"And how does one…" he trailed off. Sokka suspected he already knew the answer.

"You have to have a killer's instinct. I gained mine after the Battle of Tilgari Pass during the Years of Darkness."

"Battle of what now?"

Amar laughed, but there wasn't any humour to the sound. "I think you have indulged in my love of conversation for long enough. If you're interested, ask Kimi or one of the soldiers. I have things to do."

He nodded and strode away. Just as he was about to leave, Amar shot him a glare over his shoulder.

"And don't touch my stuff while I'm gone."

The door closed behind him, leaving Sokka alone in the house. He weighed his options, then decided to go out and find Kimi. She was one of the few people in this village he didn't feel nervous around. Later, he'd have to find somebody he could ask about medicine for Appa and Kimi would either know where he could find medicine or who he could ask. The sooner he was out of this Fire Nation village, the better.

However, as it turned out, it was Kimi who found him.

"Sokka!" she yelled, waving to draw his attention as he wandered around the tent complex.

"Hey Kimi," he greeted politely. Sokka noticed quickly that she wasn't wearing her red Fire Nation clothes. Instead, she was dressed in a loose green and brown tunic with dark brown pants. Strapped to her belt were two knives and a quiver of arrows.

"You're just the person I wanted to see," Kimi walked over to him. She certainly looked a lot more intimidating with her weapons.

"What a coincidence. I was going to ask you where I could purchase some medicine? One of my… friends is sick. It's why I came back in the first place."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "We have some, but Jet's got all pathways out of the town patrolled. You would never make it back."

Damn it. Katara and Aang had given him 5 days to walk to get medicine for Appa, he couldn't afford any delays. With the Sozin's Comet deadline drawing ever closer, it was absolutely essential they got Aang to the North Pole as quickly as possible.

"I was going to go bowfishing up the river and I wanted to see if you'd like to come," Kimi interrupted his thoughts.

Fishing? Well… until the Jet problem was solved it couldn't hurt to enjoy himself just a bit while he was here, right? With an eager smile he nodded.

Kimi grinned happy. "Great! I'll go get my bow. Go get any stuff you need and meet me on the riverbank north of town! Oh this is going to be so fun!"

* * *

When Sokka arrived on the riverbank, Kimi was already waiting for him next to a small wooden boat with a strange metallic bow slung over her shoulders. Ok, metal bows. That was new.

"Hey Sokka, have you got something to fish with?"

"I have this spear." he answered, pulling out a sharpened wooden stick he'd whittled with his jawbone knife an hour ago. It was just shorter than him with a crude point. The 'spear' was certainly nothing impressive, he'd found the stick scavenging through the debris in the town.

"Not really much of a spear, but I suppose it'll have to do," Kimi shrugged, hopping into the boat. She stumbled slightly at the unexpected motion, but regained her balance.

Sokka hopped confidently into the boat, pushing them off the shore and into the river. He grabbed the ores and began rowing, his mind clear for the first time since he'd come to Gaipan. This was something he was familiar with. He could almost imagine he was back home, spearfishing with Katara. Only Kimi wasn't Katara and this wasn't the South Pole. He had to stop pretending otherwise. He was in land controlled by the Fire Nation, there was no room for relaxing.

"Oh, could you please take us over there? There's a really good spot… yeah right here," Kimi's voice fell to a whisper, afraid she could scare off the fish if she spoke too loud.

She notched an arrow tied to a roll of string and leaned over the bow of the boat. With a deep inhale, she drew the string of the bow back, her eyes focused intently on the water. Suddenly, she snapped to the left and released. The arrow shot off into the river as Sokka tried to follow it.

"Damn it, I missed," Kimi grumbled.

"Let me try," Sokka offered. He leaned over the stern, his spear poised to strike. Breath in. Breath out. With steady eyes, he scanned the water for the slightest movement.

There! With a swiftness that told of his years of experience, Sokka plunged his spear into the water and was rewarded with a sudden resistance as he impaled his prey. With a triumphant grin, he turned back to Kimi with the impaled fish still squirming on his spear.

"Beginners luck," she grumbled.

Sokka smirked back at her. "We'll see."

"Indeed we will."

Kimi leant back over the bow and drew another arrow, but missed again. She growled with frustration and took aim a third time.

"It helps if you try to aim a bit below the fish," Sokka advised, thrusting his spear down into the water again. He missed, but recovered quickly and impaled another fish.

Meanwhile, Kimi got her first hit, and reeled a large fish back onto the boat.

The two teenagers spent the better part of the afternoon fishing. Only an hour in, and it was becoming apparent to Kimi that Sokka had her beat. By the time the sun had begun descending again, he'd managed to catch 12 fish in total, while she had only caught 8.

"And you said your father _wouldn't_ take you fishing? Did he have something against food?" Kimi asked exasperatedly. She was breathing heavily and staring disbelievingly at Sokka's fish pile.

"Trust me, if my dad was here, there wouldn't be enough fish left in the river for either of us to catch."

Kimi burst out in laughter.

"Yeah you're laughing now, but you've never seen him sail home towing a dead whale."

She gave him an inquisitive look. "What's a whale?"

"Oh right. Whales are massive sea creatures that live in the waters where I come from. Some can even grow as big as a whole village! They're often just as large if not larger than our ships."

"Wow! And your dad managed to kill one of them?"

"You bet he did." Sokka said with pride. He always looked up to his dad. To Sokka he was everything that a man should be. "I had a _whale_ of a time making a spear from it's tooth."

She hit him in the back of the head for the lame pun, then turned back to the water.

"My dad was a hopeless hunter," Kimi joked. "He'd make enough noise to scare away every animal in the province. But he was skilled enough with a sword to give Grandfather a run for his money."

"Didn't you say your father was in the army?"

She snorted derisively. "Yeah, as a tank commander. You don't need stealth when you're driving an eight ton war machine. At least, I think he's a tank commander. He hasn't kept in touch with me. Last I heard, he was stationed on the Western Lake but that was months ago. He could be in the Home Islands serving tea to the Fire Lord for all I know. How about yours?"

Sokka looked down. "I don't know where my dad is either. He left a few years ago to… join the Navy. Haven't heard from him since."

"It sucks, doesn't it?" Kimi gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. "After we lost mum, he signed up for another tour. I haven't seen much of him since."

"Loss can do weird things to people," Sokka consoled. He'd certainly seen it firsthand. The despair that had haunted his father in the months after the raid. All those nights Katara had cried herself to sleep. Aang's fit of divine rage at the summit of the Southern Air Temple.

"I'm not sure I can understand why he did it, and I don't think I ever want to."

The two teenagers didn't talk much after that. That was fine with Sokka. He had a lot to reminisce about. Despite his misgivings, it felt good to share his feelings with Kimi. Even if it reopened wounds that he'd thought had long since faded.

But as the hours ticked by and the day drew to a close, Kimi decided to head back with their catch. They reached the village quickly. Sokka leapt out of the boat and moored it on the riverbank, his injuries only giving mild protest. To his relief, they were healing up well.

Sokka helped Kimi stack the fish neatly in a pile. He pulled out his jaw blade and began descaling the fish. Kimi had her own knife, but she certainly didn't have the skill of somebody raised in the Water Tribes. But still, Sokka could tell she was no stranger to cutting up a fresh kill. She might have not been as good as him, but her talents were impressive.

"You're pretty good with that bow," he complimented.

"Thanks, I've been into archery since I was a little girl."

"Your grandfather is a professional swordsman and you chose to learn archery?"

Kimi smirked. "What can I say, I'm just not very good with a sword. Grandfather said I just didn't have the patience to learn the art."

"Who taught you then?"

"My mother. Before she joined the army"

"Oh. I'm sorry I asked."

"No, it's alright. It's been five years now, no use dwelling on things I can't change. I'll still cherish the time I spent with her, but she's gone and I have to accept that."

I suppose that's another thing we have in common, Sokka thought. But he wasn't about to tell her about the raid that killed his own mother. The Fire Nation already knew far too much about Sokka's tribe for comfort.

He stabbed the knife into the fish a little harder than was necessary at the thought.

"She used to take me into the forests with her every weekend," Kimi sighed wistfully. "We'd hunt for hours, and grandma would always make the best meals out of whatever we caught. I still miss her."

Sokka didn't respond, he just turned back to the fish, lost in his memories.

* * *

_"_ _Keep your knees bent."_

_A young boy swung a club wildly at a large man, who sidestepped it effortlessly. The boy didn't expect the lack of resistance and slipped forward on the ice._

_"Control the weapon Sokka, don't just swing it blindly."_

_Sokka recovered his stance and swung at his father again. This time, Hakoda deflected the blow with his own club and followed it up with a light downwards swing which hit Sokka in the back and sent him falling down on the ice._

_"_ _And don't make such wide swings, it makes it easy for your opponent to see what you're going to do."_

_Sokka shook off the light dusting of snow from his parka and shot his father an annoyed look. "That hurt!"_

_"_ _It's supposed to hurt. You have to learn what this feels like. In a real fight, your opponent wouldn't just stop at bruises, they would have swung hard enough to break your spine. But this is progress, you aren't going to leave yourself open like that again."_

_"_ _Can we go inside now? I'm sore and Mum's sea prunes must be getting cold."_

_"_ _No Sokka. When I agreed to train you, I told you that I wasn't going to go easy on you. Becoming a warrior takes hard work and persistence. You'll feel tired and sore after every training session, but be made tougher for it. Warriors don't give up, no matter how much they hurt. If you can't handle that, maybe you weren't meant to be a warrior."_

_Sokka's head shot up to meet Hakoda's stern gaze. "No! I can be a warrior, I promise!"_

_Hakoda gave Sokka a smile of approval. "Then why don't you prove it?" he challenged, shifting himself into a combat stance._

_Sokka leapt back onto his feet and shouted a war cry, striking forward with his club. Hakoda blocked it and followed up with a light swing of his own._

_The sound of bone clashing with bone echoed through the dark and empty tundra long into the night._

* * *

Kimi pulled Sokka to a table next to a group of soldiers. He recognised a lot of faces in the crowd. Teja and Jiro were sitting next to each other. Akio was there as well. Even Shin was there, sitting at the head of the table. Looking at the way Teja and Jiro joked with each other, Sokka still found it hard to believe Jiro was an Earthbender. He'd never be comfortable sitting so close to a Firebender.

To his surprise, Ah Lam had served them out a plate of food without him noticing. He poked at it curiously. Nothing about it was familiar to him.

"Everyone!" Ah Lam shouted, trying to get the table's attention. "This lunch is courtesy of Kimi and Sokka's fishing skills. Give them my thanks."

The table raised glasses and toasted to the two teenagers. Sokka felt awkward under the combined stares but Kimi beamed with pride.

"Thanks, you two. I can't tell you how much I've been missing this," Teja gushed happily. "I haven't had tempura this good since I left the Home Islands."

"You should visit Yu Dao one day," Jiro suggested. "There's this one place near my old neighbourhood that still holds the honour of having cooked the best tempura I've ever had. And I've had a lot of tempura."

Teja rolled her eyes and swiped a piece of fish from Jiro's chopsticks before he could react. He glared at her while she grinned innocently and placed the fish in her mouth.

Akio rolled his eyes. He turned so his back was facing the table and hugged himself, making exaggerated moaning noises. The whole table burst into laughter, even Sokka found himself laughing at the joke. Teja hit Akio on the back of the head for his efforts.

"Alright that's enough," Shin commanded, his voice carrying above the laughter. "You are soldiers of the Fire Nation, act like it."

"Hey we're just having some fun," a soldier Sokka didn't know the name of protested.

"Well you've got a lot of work to do, so finish your food and let's go."

They grumbled but finished without any more complaints. Kimi finished in time with the soldiers, and dragged Sokka outside to follow them.

"They don't call him 'Unyielding' for nothing," Akio remarked, nudging Sokka and nodding in the direction of Shin. "The Lieutenant can be a bit of a hardass."

"Well I think he's got the kind of discipline soldiers of the Fire Nation need," Kimi countered passionately.

"You'll change your tune when you're woken up before sunrise to exercise every morning. Being a scout means I get to wear the light armour, but I also have to run twice as far!" Akio laughed at his own joke. "Though I shouldn't complain, his drills have saved our skins more times than I'm comfortable with. He's got more experience than I'll ever have. Did you know he was part of the battalion that stormed the outer wall of Ba Sing Se during General Iroh's siege?"

Kimi looked off into the distance, lost in thought. "Not a lot of people came back from that wall."

"Oh, have you already heard about it?"

"Yeah, I've heard of it alright," she replied bitterly. The expression on her face was something Sokka had seen before. Kimi was pained by something. It didn't take him long to connect the dots.

"Well Lieutenant Shin came back triumphant. General Iroh himself bestowed the honorific of Unyielding on him. The Imperial Family certainly doesn't hand out things like that too often."

Sokka recalled his conversation with Amar earlier that day. "Is that why he gets to wear that skull armour?"

"Yep. He performed great deeds and was recognised as a manifestation of Agni's wrath and yadda yadda destruction incarnate." Akio waved his hand dismissively. "But seriously, it's definitely a high honour to receive and Shin certainly earned it."

"Grandfather got his honorific of 'Dauntless' the same way," Kimi added.

"I still can't believe he ended up retiring here," Akio looked around the village critically. "He could have returned home to the Fire Nation a hero for what he'd done. Why did he retire to this backwater place? No offence."

Kimi glared at Akio. "None taken."

Akio shifted uncomfortably. "Right…"

"Private Akio!" Shin shouted from the front of the procession. "Fall back into line!"

He saluted and turned back to the two teengers with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry, duty calls. I'll catch up with you two later for the show."

The show? What did Akio mean by that? But before Sokka got the chance to ask him, he hurried off to rejoin the lockstep formation of Fire Nation soldiers, leaving Sokka and Kimi alone on the street.

"Your grandfather seems to be very well respected by the soldiers," Sokka noticed. He'd have to be an idiot to miss that.

"I'm not surprised. Everybody born in this province has heard the tale of how Amar the Dauntless led the defence of Tilgari Pass against the Earth Kingdom's onslaught during the Darkest Years with a 50 men company. It's a legend, a story parents tell their children before bed," Kimi said with starry eyes. Then her gaze hardened. "Except mine."

"You were never taught any of this?"

To Sokka, the idea of not being told a tale of your ancestors was utterly foreign to him. Gran-Gran used to tell him stories about his late grandfather Amaguk, stories about how he could outmaneuver entire Fire Nation battle fleets and hunt down sea serpents. He could still remember those stories, down to the slightest detail. The Fire Nation must just be weird.

"Everything I learnt about my grandfather's life I was told by other people. He never liked talking about Tilgari, always saying he had 'things to do' whenever I asked," she sighed. "But I've always wanted to be a hero like him or my parents."

Sokka moved to stand next to her. "I can understand that. I've always wanted to be a warrior, like my dad. He is a great man, I don't think I could have asked for a better parent."

Kimi threw an arm around his shoulders with a grin.

"Well it seems our paths align. Maybe it was destiny we met each other. I hope one day we'll get the chance to storm the Earth King's palace together."

Sokka's eyes widened comically.

"Yeah, I do too!" He gave a forced grin that looked more like a grimace. Inside, he cursed himself. Why did he keep allowing himself to get close to these people? It was just so easy to forget that the person he was starting to consider a friend dreamt of leading the Fire Nation to victory in the Hundred Years War.

Luckily for Sokka, Kimi wasn't looking in his direction to see the poor display of deception. She was scanning the surrounding construction sites behind him, looking for something.

Then she smiled. "Sokka, I think you've got a shadow. Come out Mori!"

A little girl who couldn't be older than 8 shyly leaned out from behind a pile of timber. Kimi beckoned the girl forward. She reluctantly left her shelter then suddenly bolted to Kimi, holding a small doll in her hands. The girl buried her head in Kimi's stomach.

"Nice to see you too Mori. Would you like me to introduce you to my friend?"

Mori turned to look up at Sokka, staring up at him with wide open eyes. She had brown eyes and pale Fire Nation skin, like some of the older women he'd seen in the village.

"Mori, this is Sokka. Say hi."

"Hi!" Mori said after a bit of hesitation.

"Hi Mori," He squatted and waved at her. There were enough scared children in the Southern Water Tribe for Sokka to know what to do with Mori.

Kimi stepped away from Mori and crouched down to her eye level. "Is there something you wanted to say to Sokka?"

Mori shifted bashfully.

"Thank you," she whispered, so quietly he could barely hear it. She pulled up the doll, "Ms Pretty says thank you too."

Sokka wasn't really sure what she was talking about, but he played along. "Well that's very kind of both of you. But what are you thanking me for exactly?"

"What do you think, idiot?" Kimi hissed at him, leaning away from Mori so she couldn't hear.

"For saving us from the bad man," Mori said in a slightly louder voice.

If Sokka's arm wasn't injured, he would have slapped himself in the face. Of course that was why.

"Well thank you for your thanks." By the spirits, that came out so awkward.

But Mori gave him a wide gap-toothed grin. "You're funny!"

"Aw, she likes you," Kimi gushed, though there was a hint of mocking to her voice.

Mori jumped up and grabbed Sokka's forearm "Do you want to go do something fun?"

Kimi and Sokka looked at each other and shrugged. With a giggle, Mori led Sokka to the outskirts of town.

* * *

At the top of a towering tree, a lone figure watched her target. The Fire Nation teen was still there, but now a small girl had joined them.

She spun a knife around her fingers, then twisted the blade, revealing a clear syringe of green liquid. She flicked it twice, letting the bubbles settle then twisted it back into the handle of the blade.

 _'_ _Later,'_ she reminded herself.

In the sky, the sun began to set on the horizon.

* * *

"So you've a traveller? Wow! I bet you've seen so many cute fluffy animals!" Mori said as she kept pace alongside Sokka, balancing on a wooden beam as he trod along the pathway to a short stone building. It was one of the few to have survived the flood. Kimi had left earlier, leaving Sokka to babysit alone.

"Not all of them have been fluffy. Or cute," Sokka shuddered, thinking back to the Unagi. "But I've seen a few."

"You're so cool!"

Sokka laughed. "Thanks Mori."

"I'm going to go inside and see my cousin, would ya like to come meet him?"

Before waiting for a response, Mori dashed into the building, leaving Sokka to run to catch up with her. He made it to the door in time to see Mori dash up to a burly man and leap into his arms.

"Aka!" she squealed as the man tried to regain his balance after the sudden excess weight.

"Moriko! What are you doing here?" the man said.

"I wanted you to see the man who stood up to the terrorists!" she explained, pointing to Sokka.

The man shifted Mori so that he was carrying her in one arm, giving Sokka a good view of him. He was large. If he was any hairier you'd think somebody had dressed a platypus-bear in oily clothing. With a thud, he lurched forward and Sokka suddenly became aware that his leg was metal

"My name's Cetaka, I'm the town machinist," he introduced himself, wiping his soot-covered hand on his overalls before offering Sokka a crushing handshake.

"Nice to meet you," Sokka replied, trying not to cry as his hand was squeezed painfully.

With a groan, Cetaka placed Mori back down on the ground and rolled his shoulder a few times. Cetaka was burly, but short. He had the beginning of a beard but it was patchy and covered in dirt along with other unknown oily substances. Gran Gran would've never let him into their igloo (if there was such a thing as dirt in the Southern Water Tribe).

"Oh, I've got something over here for you!"

Cetaka limped into a nearby room, with Mori and Sokka following. This room was different, to say the least. It was covered in shelves, benches and half-finished metalworks. There was a wide door that led outside to an anvil and a proper forge, along with more unfamiliar Fire Nation machines. He could even spot what he could only assume was a wheel to one of the Fire Nation's infamous tanks. But what drew Sokka's interest were the sheets of paper pegged to strings criss-crossing the room. They certainly didn't look like metalwork diagrams. There were strange symbols depicted on them, which Sokka didn't recognise. Was this some kind of spiritual thing, or an unknown language?

"Ah here it is," Cetaka pulled a cloth-wrapped bundle from the shelves. "The soldiers left it with me after they found you in the woods. I'm sorry, I did all I could."

Cetaka placed the bundle in Sokka's hands. It felt heavy, but also familiar. He already had a pretty good guess what was inside. With gentle hands, Sokka unwrapped the bundle on a table and almost wept at the sight of what it contained. His club, the one he'd made with his father many winters ago, was sitting on the table in pieces.

"I thought I could reforge it, but it's made out of _bone_. I can't fix bone."

Sokka sniffled a bit, but composed himself. "It's fine. It's just a weapon."

"Kid, I know what kind of bond a warrior makes with their weapons. I've seen grown men cry over a broken shield. You don't have to act tough for me."

"What's done is done, there is no use in me mourning a broken club."

With that, Sokka re-wrapped the bundle and placed it back in his satchel. Cetaka looked at him with sympathy, then hobbled outside.

"I might have something here for you. It's not the same, but at least it should keep you protected," Cetaka said, looking through the various boxes and shelves of his workshop. "If only I could find them… ah! Got it!"

Cetaka returned, carrying a simple metal sword. He gave it a few experimental swings, then held the handle out for Sokka to take.

"It won't replace what you've lost, but it's something."

Sokka shook his head. "I don't have enough money."

"Oh no, I'm giving it to you. Really, it's no trouble. I mass produce these for the soldiers."

"I couldn't-" Sokka began, but Cetaka interrupted him.

"Just take it. Consider it a thank you gift for saving our lives."

"Well alright," Sokka grabbed the blade, his reluctance overcome by his natural curiosity. It was surprisingly light. Sokka was used to swinging around a heavy club, a sword was very different.

Despite apparently being mass produced, the sword looked to be of fairly high quality. It was straight, made out of the Fire Nation's own steel. He ran his hand along the flat of the blade. It certainly had an edge to it. Overall, it was an effective weapon. But it wasn't his. It couldn't replace his club. Making a weapon was one of the first rights of passage for teenagers in his tribe. His dad still had the spear he made with Sokka's grandfather. A spear he'd lovingly maintained for nearly three decades. Sokka always hoped to be sent off into the afterlife with his club. Not with a sword that still bore the Fire Nation insignia.

But for now, Sokka needed protection and this blade would do nicely

"Thank you."

"Er, mister Sokka," Mori piped in. "I found this. Can I keep it? To remember you?"

She held up a small fragment of bone in her tiny fingers. Sokka recognised it as the sharpened pommel of his club.

"Moriko, that's a very rude question," Cetaka chastised. "A warrior's weapon is sacred."

He considered saying no, but Mori's brown eyes were wide and begging. Sokka didn't think he could say no to those eyes.

"No, it's fine. She can keep it."

Mori gave him a hug around the legs and stuffed the piece into one of her skirt pockets with a smile.

"Thank you!" She put her doll close to her ear, like she was listening to it. "Ms Pretty thinks it's really cool."

Sokka refrained from rolling his eyes. "I bet she does."

"Isn't it time you head back to your mother, Mori?"

She seemed sad to go, but nodded in acceptance. "Bye Sokka."

"Bye Mori," he replied, waving her off. After she was gone, Cetaka turned to him.

"I'm sorry about that, she's still learning manners."

"No it's fine. I know how people her age are like, there were a lot of them in my village."

Just then, Cetaka knocked over a vial of clear liquid that spilled out over the floor and began bubbling violently. He cursed loudly.

"Blasted thing! Quick, pass me that towel!" he yelled to Sokka, pointing at a dirty grey cloth hanging on the windowsill. Sokka tossed it over to Cetaka, who smothered the liquid with it.

"What was that?" Sokka asked.

"It was one of my side projects."

"That looks like more than a side project. Is that what all these papers are for?" Sokka gestured to the strings of paper hung around the room.

"Most of them, yes. They're chemical formulas- how substances react with each other," he elaborated, seeing Sokka's confused look. "Would you like to see what I use them for?"

Sokka shrugged and nodded, but inside he was buzzing with excitement. For their flaws, the Fire Nation knew their technology and now that his curiosity had been stoked he just _had_ to see Cetaka's 'side project' for himself.

* * *

Sokka stepped into a shed filled with crates stacked upon each other until they reached the ceiling. The air was dusty and damp, but there was another smell Sokka wasn't familiar with in the air.

"That'd be the sulfur," Cetaka said, noticing Sokka sniffing the air experimentally.

Only one crate was open, near the back of the room. Sokka held his oil lamp above the crate to get a better view inside.

"What are you doing!" Cetaka shouted, pulling Sokka away from the crate. Sokka clenched his teeth as his wounded shoulder was yanked.

"Do you want to blow this whole place up?!" He held his own lamp to the side of the crate, so it could still illuminate the contents. Inside were things Sokka had only seen a few times before.

"Fireworks?"

"Yep. Hills around this town are full of saltpetre, so it's easy to find all the necessary powder to make all kinds of fireworks. I like to dabble with different chemicals, see if I can produce a different reaction in the rocket. The cities on the coast pay very well for these. At least they did. With those rebels in the forest I haven't been able to sell anything and they found other people to buy from."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Jet's gang has taken too much from this town," Sokka glared off into the distance. He meant what he'd said, Jet was a rabid dog who needed to be put down.

"It's not all bad though, I'm going to be setting this crate off in a few hours. Amar says a firework display is just what the town needs to improve their spirits."

"I've never seen a firework show."

Cetaka grinned. "Well if you plan to spend more time in Fire Nation territory you should get used to it, we love our fireworks here."

His short tour finished, Cetaka closed the crate with a loud thud.

"How did you learn all this?" Sokka asked. He'd never really considered taking up an interest in anything beyond the scope of his tribe, but this 'chemistry' was certainly worthy of investigation.

"Picked it up serving in the Army Signal Corps."

"The what?!"

"It's a specialist branch in the Fire Nation army, dealing with communications," Cetaka explained with a wistful look in his eye. "My job was to accompany platoons and send up coloured fireworks to signal people. Green if we're under attack, Yellow if we need reinforcements and so on. It allows our armies to coordinate far more effectively than any other army on the planet."

No wonder the Fire Nation was winning the war. Near-instantaneous communication within an army would be a massive advantage in a battle. The combination of good coordination with their catapults and armoured vehicles would be a challenging threat to any foe. Maybe if he could get some of these fireworks, they could signal… who exactly? There were only two other people in his group.

"Why'd you stop?" He asked upon realising that he'd been lost in his thoughts for an awkwardly long period of time.

Cetaka chuckled and tapped his prosthetic leg. "Here's some advice you'd do well to live by: never get captured by the Earth Kingdom. They have this nasty habit of crushing the hands and feet of prisoners so they can't bend."

"But I'm not a bender?"

"Neither am I," he laughed bitterly. "Didn't stop them. We got rescued before they could finish with me, of course, but the rescuers weren't quick enough to save my leg. I suppose I was lucky, all things considered. I got sent back home with an honourable discharge and a metal leg, there were others who were a lot less fortunate.

"Oh…" Sokka trailed off awkwardly. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"Don't be, you're not the first to ask and you certainly won't be the last. I'm proud of my service to my country, and no missing limb is going to stop that."

Sokka suddenly heard the sounds of something large moving just outside the shed. He cautiously placed his hand on the handle of his new sword, expecting danger. But Cetaka didn't seem worried.

"That'll be the soldiers," he explained, opening the shed door to let them in. Jiro and Teja appear through the frame.

"Afternoon, Cetaka," Jiro greeted politely. "You got the fireworks ready?"

"Right over there, next to Sokka."

Sokka waved awkwardly next to the crate as Jiro and Teja turned to look at him.

"Hey Sokka," Teja waved at him as she strode over to the crate. "Jiro, give me a hand with this."

The two soldiers lifted the crate up together. Sokka, feeling bad for not helping, grabbed the other side and lifted with whatever strength he could offer using only one arm. Cetaka guided them outside, where a Komodo Rhino and cart was waiting for them.

"Alright place it down gently… a little bit to the right… perfect!"

Teja wiped her brow with her uniform. "Thanks for the help Sokka."

"Don't mention it."

"Hey Sokka, would you like to come help us light them off?" Jiro asked, then turned to Cetaka. "If that's ok with our Fireworks Master?"

"You can come along, but he has to do everything I say. Got it?" Cetaka looked at him sternly. Sokka nodded, jumping at the opportunity to see some Fire Nation chemistry up close and personal.

"Explosives are extremely dangerous. Trust me," Cetaka held up his hand for emphasis. "The Earth Kingdom didn't give me this one!" The hand was mangled, with some fingers bent in odd directions or in the case of his pinky finger missing entirely. Sokka gulped at the sight.

The four of them all climbed onto the Komodo Rhino and set off for the riverbank.

* * *

The shadowy figure leapt through the treetops, never losing sight of the Komodo Rhino below her. She was tempted to leap down and end that Water Tribesman right now, but those Fire Nation soldiers would be on her before she could escape. For now, she would be patient.

But she would see to his demise soon enough.

* * *

The sun had set on their small clearing by the river when they'd finished the setup. The full moon hung in the sky, casting a shimmering reflection in the river. Crickets chirped through the night and mosquitoes buzzed around the campsite. It was quiet and peaceful, but not for much longer.

Cetaka had Sokka hook up fuses and even explained the various chemical components of each firework to the young man. He never knew there was a science to this kind of work, but he listened to every word. The Fire Nation's tech was something else and despite his apprehensions he was impressed. These explanations appealed to his logical mind. This was something that didn't rely on bending or the Spirit World, only on the laws of the material. He could master it just as well as any bender.

"Well, that's done," Cetaka surveyed their handiwork. "Teja, if you'd like to do the honour?"

Teja created a small flame on her index finger and grinned. "It would be my pleasure."

She shot a burst of flame at the end of the fuse. Sokka watched as the fuse sparked until it disappeared below the firework. There was a small pause, then a sudden woosh. The firework shot up into the air, trailing red sparks as it ascended before it exploded in a burst of red light and sound.

His ears hurt, but he was too enamored to care. More fireworks shot off into the air, painting the landscape with rainbow bursts of light and sound. There was an ethereal beauty to the display.

* * *

She crept through the underbrush, timing her dashes between the trees to the sound of the fireworks. She was so close! Just a few metres, and she would have him.

The two soldiers were busy holding hands, they wouldn't react until it was too late. The other one was a cripple, he couldn't chase her. Her target's back was turned to her, with his neck exposed. It would just take one second, and he'd be dead. And her love would be avenged.

There was a pause in the aerial display. Now was her chance! She untwisted the poison vial in her knife. There was no going back now. Sokka's death was assured.

Then several fireworks shot into the sky at once, releasing a thundering crack and blinding burst of white light. She hadn't reacted quickly enough, and the momentary blindness caused her to misstep. A branch cracked under her weight.

* * *

*snap!*

Sokka glanced over his shoulder to look into the forest. He'd heard something, between the loud cracks of the fireworks. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and his hand found its way to the hilt of his new sword. Something didn't feel right. His instincts were telling him to run. Sokka raised his oil lamp to eye level, trying to illuminate the forest.

Cetaka was the only one who noticed. "Is something wrong?"

"I think I heard something." Sokka replied. He drew his sword and stepped up the small hill to the forest. Cetaka cautiously followed him.

* * *

She cursed every spirit she could remember. He was coming right for her! Silently, she weighed her options. In one fell swoop, her odds of success had just plummeted.

It would be best to wait, she decided.

Quickly, she dashed behind a tree. But she neglected to time her retreat, and so for a brief moment a flash of red light illuminated her on the forest floor. It was only for a split second…

But it was enough for Sokka.

* * *

There! Just a few metres ahead of him! There was a person here, probably one of Jet's. He shouted back to Jiro and Teja. Drawing his sword, he charged to the tree he'd seen the person duck behind, Cetaka just behind him.

* * *

Dammit, he'd seen her. Thinking quickly, she crouched down to grab a handful of dirt from the ground. Just as Sokka and the cripple rounded the tree, she threw the dust in their faces. Sokka reeled backwards, but she didn't take the chance to see if he was still following her. She sprinted off into the forest, leaving them by the riverside.

* * *

Sokka stumbled back down the hill, losing his grip on his lamp and sword as he fell. Teja caught him, but Cetaka was too heavy to be stopped. He rolled down the hill, colliding with the side of the crate of fireworks. The crate teetered and fell to the side.

The lamp soared through the air. Sokka watched with mounting horror as it reached its apex before gravity pulled it back to the earth, as if in slow motion. He knew what was going to happen before it happened. Teja knew it too. With only a split second to react, they grabbed Cetaka just as the lamp smashed onto the fireworks, spraying flammable oil over them.

As the flames began to lick at the oil, Sokka shoved Teja and Cetaka forward out of the way. Jiro bent an earth wall to protect the trio, but Sokka was all alone.

With a whoosh, the flames caught the box and the fireworks all ignited. The box was thrown backwards as a brilliant multicoloured burst of flame erupted from it, narrowly avoiding Sokka. Missiles of fire sailed across the sky, outshining the moon itself and shooting down onto the ground. They pierced the tree canopies and struck down at the ground like a wrathful spirit. A few exploded against Jiro's earth wall or shot near Sokka, who was too stunned to move.

It was beautiful.

A brilliant beam of rainbow fire shot across the river. Sparks of all colours rained down from the skies. It was like a piece of the sun had been brought down to earth. Sokka had never seen such a display of beauty and raw destructive power in his life.

He could have stared at this light for eternity.

But sadly it all came to an end. The tongue of fire shot into the canopy of the trees on the other side of the river, exploding into a blinding fireball. Leaves were consumed orange flames. He could feel the heat of the inferno all the way on the other side of the river.

Behind him, Jiro and Teja helped Cetaka to his feet.

"Is everybody alright?" Teja asked, but Sokka was too transfixed to answer. He was staring wide-eyes at the fire raging across the river.

Jiro placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Come on Sokka, we need to go."

That broke his trance. He gave one last look to the fire across the river before he turned away to follow Teja and Cetaka, leaving the destroyed clearing and fire behind. They passed by soldiers sprinting back, laden with buckets to quell the blaze.

Across the river, a mighty branch weakened by fire fell, splashing into the river with a burst of steam.

* * *

Sokka collapsed onto his sleeping bag in a heap, letting his bags drop to the floo. They had arrived back at the town to a massive crowd waiting by the gate. Teja told the waiting masses what happened: that they were attacked and Sokka saved Cetaka. Amar had frowned as Teja told him about the attack. He'd talked quietly with Shin about increasing security for the town.

It must have taken half an hour for the crowd to disperse and allow Sokka to leave. Cetaka thanked him in private, but Sokka wasn't really paying attention. Now that the adrenaline had faded, he just wanted to go to sleep.

The last person to leave was Kimi. She had approached him the moment he was alone.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sokka assured her. "Just tired."

"Then I'll see you in the morning. I'm going to go with my grandfather and review the defences."

She left him alone to find his way back to his sleeping bag.

He curled up gratefully, seeking the pleasant warmth of the nearby fireplace. Only a moment later, he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Under the light of the moon, she dashed across the open clearing and pressed against the scaffolding of an unfinished tower built into the palisade. And just in time too. The flickering torches of a 7 man patrol appeared to her left. She remained still as they passed by without noticing her. As they passed, she could pick up the voice of the elderly man leading them.

"I want the patrols doubled and a mandatory curfew enforced. We cannot let these terrorists take another…"

His voice faded into the night as he passed by her hiding place. She counted down a few seconds to confirm they were truly gone, then raced down the wall to the gate. There were two soldiers guarding the entrance.

"Hey wait-" one said, pointing his spear at her. But he never got to finish. She pushed his spear aside and spun around, burying her knife in the side of his neck. The soldier collapsed to the floor, gurgling as his lungs filled with blood.

The other soldier tried to cry out in alarm, but she was too quick. Her knife slashed across his neck, slicing through his windpipe. He made a feeble squeaking noise before he too fell to the ground. There was no time to dispose of the bodies, they were left in the cool dirt.

The blade of her knife glinted in the moonlight as she dashed into the town, closing in on the manor on the hill. She climbed scaffolds and leapt from rooftops to avoid the patrols walking through the streets. Soon enough, she was crouched under the cover of an elegant garden before the manor.

She'd failed once already. But this time, he wouldn't get away.

* * *

Sokka awoke in a pool of sweat. He twisted awkwardly in his sleeping bag and attempted to stand up, only to collapse back onto the floor with a thud. Thankfully, the noise hadn't awoken anybody else.

It didn't take him long to find out what awoke him. The fire was now burning hotter than it had when he'd fallen asleep. It was now uncomfortably hot, drowning him in heat.

With a sigh, he tiptoed out of the room. There was no way he could fall asleep like this. He'd be swimming in sweat by morning at this rate. A nice walk outside would cool him down a bit.

* * *

She couldn't believe her eyes. Was it really that easy? Sokka had just stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him. He was all alone, unprepared and only had a sword in his hands. After all her efforts, he'd made himself the perfect target.

Unscrewing the poison vial from her knife, she leapt up out of cover and charged him.

He wouldn't have the chance to react before she buried the poison in him. After that, she'd escape. But not without seeing the life leave his eyes. She wanted him to feel the same way Longshot felt.

* * *

Sokka sighed, and let the cool night air wash over him. It was very relaxing after the day he had. His sword was clutched loosely in his hands. Honestly, he didn't know what possessed him to bring it outside. It felt unfamiliar to him, too light and too flimsy. But it was all he had.

A flash of silver in the across the grass drew his attention. He only had the time to leap out of the way with a startled cry. His attacker leapt at him too quickly for Sokka to even stand a chance at blocking, especially not with his unfamiliar weapon. They struck forward with a needle Sokka only avoided because he took that moment to fall off the porch, landing roughly on the ground with his sword dropped somewhere in the tall grass.

"This is for Longshot," Smellerbee whispered, just so he could hear. She plunged the needle down at his chest.

A flick of silver in his peripheral vision and the poison needle burst into shards of glass, spraying the noxious green substance over the grass. Kimi leapt over the hedges and charged at Smellerbee, shooting off another arrow which narrowly missed the girl before dropping her bow and reaching for the two knives on her belt. She leapt between Sokka and Smellerbee then swung her knife at the smaller girl.

But Smellerbee was quick. She blocked both of Kimi's strikes and responded with two of her own. Sokka got to his feet and reached around the grass for his sword while the two girls exchanged blows.

"A little help here?!" Kimi yelled, dodging another swipe.

His hands finally made contact with the cool steel, and just in time too. Smellerbee looked like she had Kimi at a disadvantage. But Kimi had one more trick up her sleeve.

She swung her dagger at Smellerbee again, but this time it was coated in burning yellow flames. Smellerbee deflected the dagger, but the fire burnt her hand. Her knife fell from her numb hands. Kimi followed up with a weak fireball that sent Smellerbee stumbling backwards into the wall of the house.

Smellerbee tried to run, but Sokka leapt into her path and swiped at her, just missing her neck. With a snarl she pulled another small knife and held it awkwardly in her left hand and charged at Sokka. He swung forward, forcing her to block. The sheer force of his blow sent her to her knees.

Outmatched by the two teens, Smellerbee threw her knife at Sokka and ran away.

"Stop her!" Kimi shouted as she raced after her, closely followed by Sokka who ducked under the thrown knife.

Smellerbee almost got away, but as she rounded the next corner she found herself facing down the sharp end of half a dozen glaives. Six Fire Nation soldiers fanned out around her, three on either side of an elderly man. Behind her, Sokka and Kimi blocked any other ways of escape. Her options exhausted, Smellerbee hung her head in defeat.

"A good night for an evening stroll, is it?" Amar said, like he was talking to a friend instead of a captured enemy. "Take her to the holding cell."

Two soldiers broke formation. One grabbed her arms while the other tied her hands behind her back.

Sokka watched as the Smellerbee was dragged off to who knows where. The civilians were now peering outside their doors and windows.

"Is that one of Jet's?"

"There are dead soldiers by the gate!"

"They can get through the walls now? Dear Agni, is anybody safe!?"

Panic gripped the town. The soldiers trying to pacify the growing crowds were drowned out by the frantic shouts of confused and scared civilians. It was like all the mounting fear and stress had reached a sudden tipping point.

"ORDER!" Amar shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice somehow carrying above the entire crowd's shouting.

"There has been an attack on our town. A single assassin managed to slip past our patrols, murdering two guards in the process. Rest assured, she has now been captured and the entire garrison has been ordered to sweep the entire town and tent complex for any accomplices to this criminal or other weaknesses in our defense. Go back to your sleep, a town meeting will be called tomorrow morning."

His authoritative voice echoed through the street, clear and precise. One by one, the crowds dispersed. Amar's mere presence and conviction was enough to reassure them everything was going to be alright. It was a display of leadership and charisma Sokka hadn't ever seen before, even in his own father who Sokka always regarded as the epitome of a manly leader.

Kimi nudged him. "Let's get back to the manor."

Sokka nodded numbly. Kimi didn't look at him as they walked back up the hill to Amar's house. Now that adrenaline had faded, it had finally hit him that Kimi shot a fireball out of her hands. She was a firebender! His new friend, who he shared so much in common with, was a _firebender_. How had he been so _stupid_? He had allowed an _ashmaker_ to befriend him!

He wanted to feel angry. At her. At himself. And at the Universe as a whole. He really did. But he couldn't bring himself to be angry. It wasn't like she had ever lied to him, he had just never thought to ask. When they were eating together, at breakfast yesterday, he'd already felt companionship with her. Maybe he'd just subconsciously convinced himself that she must be a nonbender, because there was no way he'd could've kinship with a firebender?

In Sokka's mind, firebenders didn't have families. They didn't mourn their mothers, miss their fathers or worry about their village's safety, like Kimi. They were, at best, strict authoritarians like Shin or angry sociopaths like Zuko. Not funny and friendly like Kimi. She didn't fit the stereotype he'd subconsciously created for firebenders, and thus his brain had rejected the possibility of her being a firebender.

_"_ _I was there when you were brought in. Ah Lam had me heating your wounds. You did not look good, no offense."_

Damn it all, she'd basically told him she was a firebender the moment they first met but he hadn't listened. Why would a Fire Nation town bother hearing a wound conventionally when they have human heat generators just walking around?

He sighed to himself. He couldn't hold this against her. Firebender or not, Kimi was the closest thing he had to a friend in this town. She hadn't lied to him. It wasn't like it was her fault she was born an ashmaker and she had just saved his life not ten minutes ago. Maybe Kimi was just an exception? He might have just been lucky enough to meet the only firebender not born evil.

Or were firebenders just not as evil as he originally thought? Ah Lam had made him consider that the _Fire Nation_ might not be pure evil, so perhaps the same was true for firebenders?

"Well, here we are," Kimi gestured to the door.

"Thanks, Kimi."

"It's no problem, we were both going in the same direction anyway."

Sokka shook his head. "No, I mean thanks for saving my life."

"Oh. Well, it was nothing. You'd have done the same for me," Kimi paused. "Well, you _did_ do the same for me. And this whole town. So consider it even between us."

She gave him a cheeky grin. Kimi wished him goodnight and disappeared up the stairs while Sokka began to make his way to his sleeping bag.

He'd once again been given a lot to think about. But one thing was certain, he wasn't going to treat Kimi any different. She'd saved his life, he owed it to her to not hold her bending talent against her.

He was just stepping carefully over a slightly overweight man, when the door opened again. The sudden noise nearly caused Sokka to lose his balance. He whirled his arms around, and just managed to avoid falling down on the man.

Amar stood in the doorframe. And for the first time since Sokka had seen him, he looked old and tired. He stiffened when he saw Sokka was still awake.

"So, Cetaka gave you a sword?" he observed.

"Yes... Sir," he added quickly.

"Do you know how to use it?"

Sokka looked away in embarrassment. "No, but I'll figure it out on the way."

Amar rolled his eyes. "No you won't."

Sokka's eyes narrowed. Did he seriously start a conversation just to insult him?

"Meet me in the garden at first light. And don't be late," Amar ordered. Without another word, he walked up the stairs leaving Sokka alone in the dark.

What just happened? Did Amar seriously offer to teach him? Sokka couldn't help the excitement that welled up inside him. Finally! He was going to learn how to be a true warrior, from one of the greatest swordsmen in the whole province?

He let out a giddy whoop, but suddenly felt himself almost fall over again as the sleeping man rolled over onto his foot. He could celebrate later, he had to get up early in the morning. With that emotional whirlpool over, he allowed peaceful sleep to take him.


	6. Chapter 6

Heaving with exertion, Sokka stumbled up the old cobble steps. His new sword bounced in the scabbard he'd hastily made from bits of old leather, making loud clanging noises that broke the peaceful atmosphere of the early morning. The sun shone brightly down on him, banishing the cold nighttime air.

At the top of the hill, Amar stood imperiously holding a small metal device in his hands.

"16 seconds late," he stated, placing the metal device in his coat.

"Sorry, master," Sokka managed to say between his heavy breaths. How did Amar know he was late? Sokka though he had a few minutes left at least.

Amar pointed to a small hill, "See that? I want you to run up it. 16 times. Once for every second you were late."

Sokka moaned as he forced his tired muscles to cooperate. Amar didn't tell him they'd be training at the top of a cliff, he'd had to ask around the town for that information. And he was only 16 seconds late!

He was only halfway done when Amar spoke again.

"Climb that tree," he ordered, pointing towards a small pine tree.

"But I haven't fini-"

"Climb that tree," he repeated sternly.

Sokka sighed and threw himself up onto the first branch, heaving loudly all the way. A sharp pain in the back of his head caused Sokka to stumble forwards, nearly falling out of the tree. He turned back to the forest, to see another small rock shoot out of the bushes. He ducked just in time for the rock to sail over his head.

"Who threw that?!" he yelled into the forest.

"Did I tell you to stop?" Amar demanded. "Keep going!"

Another rock shot out of the forest, hitting Sokka in the arm. His injuries flared up again, making him hiss in pain. He swung to the other side of the tree for a bit of cover, but another rock shot from the forest, hitting his foot. The unexpected force caused him to lose his footing and fall to the base of the tree.

"What are you doing at the tree? You still have to run up that hill another 10 times!"

"You told me too-"

"I told you to run up that hill once for every second you were late! And since you're taking so long to do it, you now have 20 more to do."

Sokka growled angrily and ran up the hill. Was Amar just trying to torture him?

He was forced to duck as more rocks shot out from the forest. If Amar noticed, he didn't show it. Sokka tried to shelter his head from the onslaught and run in random directions to confuse his attacker.

"What are you doing over there?" Amar yelled. "This is sword practice! Pick up your sword and begin training."

Finally! This farce was over. Sokka drew his sword and raced back to the clearing. The older man had a supple pine stick in his hands and was swinging it around slowly, testing the weight.

Sokka got into a ready stance, just in time to block Amar's swing. He tried to respond with his own, but another rock nailed him in the back of the head, causing him to miss Amar completely.

"I knew you were incapable of being on time, didn't know you were blind too."

"But the rock-"

Amar silenced him with a strike with the branch that left a red mark on his back.

Sokka snarled and swung his sword upwards, only for it to be easily blocked. Amar advanced calmly, with a faint smug look on his face. The branch struck out too quickly for Sokka to react, striking the back of his hand with a loud twang. He cried out with pain and let the metal blade fall to the ground. He slipped on the dewy ground and joined his sword on the wet ground.

"Oh, did you not want that? Maybe I should give it back to Cetaka, they'd be just enough metal in it to make a few nice teacups."

He thrusted downwards, forcing Sokka to roll away and scramble forward, trying to pick up his fallen sword. But Amar wasn't finished. He tripped Sokka, sending him falling into the dirt again.

Now running on pure fury, Sokka pushed himself back onto his feet and turned around to face Amar, who was leaning against the stick casually.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

With a cry of anger, Sokka leapt at the older man, swinging downwards at him, only to meet nothing. Amar followed his sidestep up with another probing strike at his injured arm, but Sokka managed to block it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another rock flying towards him. Sokka stepped to the side, avoiding the rock and using his momentum to swing at Amar again. It was blocked easily, but Sokka pressed forward. It became a pattern. Keep moving to avoid the rock thrower, keep his arms up to avoid the branch. He kept going for what felt like hours. Even as Amar led him into the forest, forcing him to fight on uneven and unfamiliar terrain, Sokka refused to surrender.

Sokka's luck ran out when Amar batted his sword aside then thrust forward, hitting him in the chest with the blunt end of the branch. The young man fell onto his back, winded and exhausted.

Amar stood over him. And to Sokka's surprise, there was even a slight smile on the elderly swordmaster's face.

"This concludes our first lesson."

"What lesson? You just spent an hour hitting me around!"

"You want to be a warrior, yes?" Amar asked, even though he already knew the answer. "What do you think a warrior does, boy? I can tell you they don't spend all day just dueling each other in safe little arenas. If you want that, there are a thousand pretentious 'masters' in Caldera that could teach you all that fancy nonsense."

Sokka pushed himself into a sitting position.

"No, a warrior fights _real_ battles," he continued. "And battles are never clean or safe. They are messy, chaotic and frustrating affairs where you will often find yourself set upon by dozens of opponents at once. The first and most important lesson you must learn is to retain situational awareness, respond to changing conditions and deal with multiple threats at once. Those rocks could have just as easily been arrows or fireballs. Speaking of which, you can come out now Kimi."

Her head popped out from behind a tree. "Did I do well, grandfather?"

"You did fine. Now head back to the town."

She nodded and walked out of the forest.

"Sorry about those rocks, Sokka," Kimi said as she passed him. "I didn't mean to hit you in the shoulder that one time."

"'s fine," he grumbled, feeling embarrassed.

Amar waved her off then turned back to Sokka.

"And you didn't completely screw it up," he admitted. "You managed to deal with my conflicting orders, avoid most of the rocks and successfully adapt from fighting on even ground to fighting in the forest."

Sokka grinned proudly. He'd done it! He'd passed his first lesson in becoming a warrior!

"Don't look so proud of yourself. There is still _much_ to be improved upon. But for now, this lesson is concluded. There is a town meeting I must attend."

Sokka got up off the ground and bowed to Amar, who returned with a polite nod and left, leaving the young man alone in the clearing.

He had no doubt what this meeting was for. They were going to decide how to deal with Jet. The people of Gaipan were terrified. Sokka had only ever seen this kind of ingrained fear once before, in the faces of the women and children of his tribe. To Gaipan, Jet was as evil and terrifying as those Fire Nation raiders that stalked the South Pole.

Sokka hated him. He didn't think he'd ever felt such hatred for another person. Even the Fire Lord and the man who killed his mother were just vague concepts, Sokka never hated them on a personal level like he did that manipulative self-righteous 'Freedom Fighter'. He'd put blood on his sister's hands (even though she didn't know it) and terrified a poor and defenceless village. Fire Nation or not, attacking innocent civilians as a part of some insane genocidal campaign was evil. Making Katara and Aang his unwilling accomplices to such evil was unforgivable.

It was so easy for Sokka to sympathise with the villagers. He felt like they had, so long ago. Powerless and defenceless before an unseen and unbeatable foe. Sokka was weak and helpless all those years ago, when a similar threat had come for his sister.

But he wasn't that weak little boy anymore. And Sokka had something Jet didn't anticipate: the location of his hideout.

* * *

"I say we burn that forest to the ground!" a particularly bold citizen shouted over the deafening arguments. A few people shouted their support.

"Order!" Amar bellowed, instantly silencing everybody in the hastily constructed hall. "Everybody is free to share their proposals, but for the love of Agni wait your turn. Lieutenant Shin, you first."

"We can't stand around and do nothing. Jet has made his intentions very clear. We're sitting turtleducks right now," Shin tapped the map on the head table for emphasis. "We need to strike first."

Amar ran his finger through his trimmed beard and peered down at the map. "Strike where, Lieutenant? It would be unwise to send men into the forest blindly. Such a move would leave the terrorists the time they need to ambush us."

"We'd have to send out scouting parties. I know it's risky, but what choice do we have?"

"Could we improve our defenses and let them break themselves on it?" another soldier suggested.

"I don't want this to turn into a siege. While they control the forest, they control roads to and from town. Our food and medicine supplies are running low as it is and we can't hunt in the forest. They could starve us out."

"Then let's just burn the canopies!" Teja countered. "We don't need to burn the whole forest, just enough to flush them out."

Amar sighed. "I loathe to bring such destruction upon our own homes, but your proposal may be necessary. I'll have civilian water crews on standby for controlling the blaze."

"Um… sir?" Sokka spoke up. He paled as a hundred pairs of eyes all turned to look at him.

"Sokka, you have something to add?" Amar asked.

Sokka inhaled and composed himself. Even though he'd already decided that Jet and his band of terrorists had to be dealt with, he still felt like a traitor. But he had to do this.

"I know where their base is," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Could you speak up, boy?"

"I know where their base is!" he repeated. Instantly, the room fell silent. If Sokka didn't have everybody's attention before, he did now.

"Well, why didn't you say so earlier?!" Shin demanded. He gestured for Sokka to approach the main table. "Quick, show me where they are."

Sokka studied the map closely. Jet's base would have to be on the other side of the river, south of the ruined dam and southeast of the bend in the river… there!

"It's here," he tapped the blank spot on the map with his forefinger. "They have this treehouse set up in the forest canopy. There are rocks and explosives they'll throw down at you, along with a few archers, so watch out for those. You'd have to rely on ranged weapons and bending, chances are they're going to spot you long in advance and destroy the ropes they used to get into the base itself."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be. They were there a week ago, but they might have moved elsewhere since then."

"Then we know what we have to do," Shin turned to Teja. "Ready your squad, we attack mid afternoon. I want the scouts with us too, we need to confirm the location. I'll leave a squad here to protect the town."

"Understood, sir!" Teja saluted Shin and left the tent, with half a dozen soldiers following her."

Amar turned to Shin. "Careful, Lieutenant. You don't want to go rushing off into that forest without a plan."

"I understand," Shin agreed. "But I don't want to wait for Jet to pick another base. This is the best opportunity we've ever been given."

"Then I wish you luck," Amar bowed his head to the Lieutenant, who returned the gesture and left, taking the rest of the soldiers with him. The elderly veteran remained at the table, peering down at the map as if he was trying to unravel some riddle.

"Hey," Kimi whispered, tugging on Sokka's shirt. "You want to go do something fun?"

"Sure," Sokka replied. Maybe it would be good to have a distraction from the unsettling feeling of guilt he felt from willingly aiding the Fire Nation.

* * *

Kimi strung her bow over her shoulder and strapped her hunting knives to her belt while Sokka grabbed his jawblade and new sword. He looked longingly at the wrapped package containing the remains of his club. Bone couldn't be reforged, that weapon was gone. He had to move past it.

As they ascended up to the forest, they passed by an assembly of soldiers. Shin was standing on a podium in front of what had to be twenty or more soldiers. It was the most Fire Nation soldiers Sokka had ever seen in one place that weren't trying to kill him. Shin had a map of the town, larger and more detailed than the last one. The location of Jet's camp had been marked down in green.

Kimi nudged him and pointed to a small alley between two houses. Jiro was holding Teja in a way that couldn't be anything but intimate. They seem to be saying their goodbyes.

"You know my parents met while serving in the military? He was in the armoured corps and she was in the scouts," Kimi gestured towards the couple. "Of course relationships within the army are highly discouraged, but that didn't stop them. And it doesn't look like it stopped those two."

Teja gave Jiro a chaste kiss on the forehead, before she donned her armour and rejoined the assembly of soldiers, leaving Jiro alone.

Sokka turned back to Kimi. "Do you remember them much?"

"As much as I can. They retired from the army after I was born, but then the war started going badly and Fire Lord Azulon needed more soldiers for General Iroh's siege. They volunteered, leaving me with my grandpa. I never saw my mum again. After that, father rejoined the army permanently and I didn't see much of him either, as you know."

"Again, I'm sorry to hear that," Sokka consoled, subtly guiding her away from the assembly. He figured she might feel a bit better once they got out of the town.

"How about your mum? What was she like?" Kimi turned to him expectantly.

"I lost my mum when I was young too," he admitted. "And my dad didn't take it well either. There's not much else to say."

"Is that why he joined the Navy?"

Sokka didn't answer. But his silence spoke for him.

They left the town behind in silence, both of them just thinking. Sokka hadn't thought about his parents in a long time before coming to Gaipan. He'd pushed such feelings aside when he assumed the role of his tribe's protector and provider. And since then, there was never really time for him to reminisce or mourn. All those feelings had just faded over time, along with their memories. But having somebody to talk to about these things made him feel good. Even if she was Fire Nation.

"Was it hard?" Kimi asked, breaking the silence. "When your father left, I mean."

Sokka glanced over to the western horizon, as if his father's ship would suddenly appear sailing over the crests of the distant waves.

"Extremely."

* * *

_The snow had begun to fall down heavier now, making Sokka shiver in his parka. Snowflakes melted on his face, causing his warpaint to smear and drip down into the white powder._

_It had been hours since his father had left. Hours since the fog had swallowed the ships up, leaving Sokka all alone in the tundra. He still waited, even as his fingers grew numb and the small bundle of clothes and weapons he carried fell to the snow. Maybe his father would come back and change his mind?_

"You're not old enough to go to war Sokka."

_But he knew it was wishful thinking. With a sigh, he moved for the first time in hours, trudging off back towards the village, struggling to carry his things up the slope with old tears frozen around his eyes. His father's last words still weighed heavily on him._

"Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most. And for you right now that's here protecting your sister."

_The sun was setting by the time he reached the village. Katara spotted him as he approached the flickering fire._

_"Sokka!" she leapt of the snow to wrap her arms around him._

_"He's gone, Katara."_

_She squeezed him tighter, holding his head like Hakoda had done hours ago. "I know. I'm sorry."_

_He didn't respond. But he held onto his sister tightly. Maybe his dad was right, this was where he was needed the most. Katara guided him over to a spot next to the fire, and stayed by him until the warmth drove the cold away._

* * *

Kimi led him to the top of a small hill at the edge of the town limits. The hill overlooked the river, giving Sokka a good view of the broken dam. Water still bubbled out of those geysers, but they were now submerged under the water line.

There were crudely painted targets nailed to the trees, some still containing broken arrows. Wooden stakes stuck up out of the ground, covered in small scratches. Some of the tall grass in the small clearing was cut or singed. It looked like a battle had been fought here.

"Sorry about the mess," Kimi shrugged her bow off her shoulders. "This is where I come to train."

"I can see that," Sokka remarked, flicking the fletching of an arrow sticking out of a tree, making it strum annoyingly.

Kimi gestured to the stakes, "If you want to get some practice with your sword, feel free to. I just thought you might enjoy getting out of the town for a while."

"Thanks Kimi," he replied, drawing his sword and taking a few experimental swings against the stakes. He ducked and weaved around them, dodging imaginary weapons. Kimi was right, this was enjoyable. All his worries just faded into the background, there was only him and these imaginary enemies in the world now.

Kimi meanwhile shot arrow after arrow at the targets in the trees, switching between them randomly to never let herself get used to shooting in any one direction. They each trained individually in companionable silence, just enjoying their moment of peace. Kimi was the first one to stop, after she had exhausted her small supply of arrows. She placed her bow down and switched to her two knives. She swung them through the grass, cutting through it easily.

Sokka paused his training to study his Fire Nation friend. She was clearly skilled, if the way she gracefully moved through her formations was any indication. He watched her go through a series of quick strikes which she finished off by igniting her knives and slicing down into one of the wooden stakes.

Flames licked up the side of the stake. Kimi brought her hand over the fire with a bored sigh and exhaled, bringing her hand down and smothering the flames until only wisps of smoke remained.

"I didn't know Firebenders could extinguish fires," Sokka remarked.

"Oh that's one of the first things we learn. Control is really emphasised in any Firebending lesson, especially for beginners," Kimi summoned a small flame in her hand, barely larger than a candle. "The last thing you want is a first time firebender burning down houses or scaring himself.

Sokka observed the flame curiously. He'd certainly never been given the chance to just talk with a Firebender about their bending. Despite his reservations, it was interesting learning their methods.

Kimi closed her hand, extinguishing the flame. "I learnt my bending when I tagged along with Grandfather to the big city. My master would have me spending hours practicing breathing or meditating on sunlight. One time he gave us all a bit of straw and lit the ends on fire, then made us spend most of the day trying to stop the fire from reaching out fingers. It was all incredibly boring, but also important."

"Why do you use a bow then, if you're a bender?" Sokka asked. He'd never met a bender that specialised in a weapon type. Katara had refused to learn how to wield a spear, since she said it would cut into her puddle splashing time (as Sokka had put it).

"Well I am a Firebender, but I wouldn't exactly call myself a powerful one. I'm not like Teja. I learnt how to shoot a bow before I learnt how to shoot a fireball and that stuck with me. Plus a weapon can be just as effective. You don't need fire to make something dead. You're pretty good with that sword, I'm sure you could beat a few Earthbenders with that."

"You really think so?" Sokka asked, blushing slightly at the praise.

"Damn right. You keep up with your training, and I'm sure you could be a formidable swordsman people like Jet would fear," Kimi assured him. She yawned loudly and slid down a tree, sitting cross-legged at its base.

"Well… thanks," he replied awkwardly, as he laid down on the grass near her. "You too, I guess."

The sun was shining down warmly on the clearing. Sokka breathed deeply, simply enjoying nature.

"Would you like to hear the story about how I set my classroom on fire?" Kimi asked him, breaking the silence.

Sokka snorted. "Sounds hilarious, please do."

Kimi chuckled as she began to tell her story, Sokka listening to every word.

* * *

"Wait… TWO fishhooks? How in Agni's name did you manage that?!" Kimi asked between fits of laughter.

Sokka wiped a tear from his eye. "I tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook. In my defence it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"In what possible world would that _ever_ be a good idea?"

"Least I didn't try to steal my firebending instructor's Komodo Rhino. Still can't believe you did that."

"Oh shut up. He never found out it was me so it worked out in the end."

The laughter faded and they both sighed. They'd been sharing silly stories with each other for the past hour. Sokka hadn't laughed this much in ages.

"Well my legs are getting cramps," Kimi said, getting to her feet. "Let's do something."

"What do you have in mind?" He asked, still lying on the grass with his eyes closed.

Kimi twirled her hunting knife around her fingers. "Would you like to spar? I need somebody to train my knifework. I promise I won't hurt you too badly!"

Sokka laughed from his position on the grass. "Sure, why not. If your knife skills are as bad as your fishing, I should be fine."

"Oh it's on!" Kimi grinned. "I've got some sticks here we can use."

She tossed him an old wooden sword and drew two smaller sticks. Sokka got to his feed and caught the stick, then gave it a few experimental swings, testing the weight and assumed a wide stance, holding her knives in a ready position.

"Whenever you're ready."

Remembering his painful lesson earlier that morning, Sokka refrained from putting his whole strength behind his first swing. He'd only briefly seen Kimi use her knives in a proper fight. He wanted to get an indication of her skills before he committed fully.

Kimi didn't flinch. Stepping low, she brought her knife up and let Sokka's training sword slide against it and stepped forward to thrust her other knife into his exposed torso. But Sokka was quick and leapt backwards to avoid the thrust. He swung low at Kimi's foot, but she stepped out of his reach just in time. The two teenagers circled each other, neither willing to make the first move.

"Is that all you've got?" Kimi taunted.

In response, Sokka swung diagonally down at her with both hands. Kimi brought another knife up to block, but the strength behind the blow batted her arm out of the way and he managed to strike her shoulder. She retreated quickly enough to avoid his backhand follow up.

"Ow!" She cried, rolling her arm to ease the ache. "That hurt!"

"So did that rock you threw at me, but here we are."

She leapt to his side, striking for his exposed torso. Sokka sidestepped and swung at Kimi's left arm, but his balance was poor and there was no power behind the attack, allowing Kimi to drive his stick into the dirt and jab him in the stomach.

Sokka groaned and stumbled forward slightly. Kimi stepped back, giving him a moment to recover.

"That's one to me," Kimi smirked at him as Sokka got back up to his feet and brought his wooden sword into a ready position.

She moved first, using her right knife to bat his sword out of the way and stepped to his left to strike at his torso again. But Sokka had learnt his lesson and brought his own weapon up to block the blow then swung down at the girl, taking advantage of her too wide stance to break her balance.

The force behind his attack forced Kimi to block with both her knives in an x shape. Before she could regain her footing, Sokka kicked her foot out from under her and jabbed her in the back on her way down.

"And that's one to me," Sokka bragged.

Kimi huffed and sprung to her feet and charged at him, hoping to catch Sokka by surprise. Her gambit paid off when her rapid flurry of blows overwhelmed the boy and she jabbed him in the stomach again.

"Good, that means I can stop going easy on you," she laughed, but was interrupted as Sokka swung for her again.

"I'm not done yet."

She blocked his attack and leapt back to put some distance between them. Sokka took up a different form, this time trying for the one handed duelist formation Amar used to allow him to use his increased reach more effectively. He blocked her next three attacks and swung for her wrist, only for her to deflect it and leap to the side to try for another stab. Sokka stepped out of her range and moved smoothly into a downwards swing that forced Kimi to retreat.

They continued like this for hours, blocking, slashing and thrusting to try and score more hits on their opponents. Sokka had lost count of the score long ago, but to his surprise he wasn't doing as bad as he expected. Kimi was skilled, but he seemed to be able to hold his own.

But now their rapid slashes had grown sluggish as they fought themselves to exhaustion. Kimi had discarded her brown-green cloak long ago and Sokka's singlet was drenched in sweat marks.

"Ready… to give up?" Kimi said through heavy breaths.

"You," he gulped down air. "Wish."

Sokka swung down at her again, though he only met air as Kimi sidestepped, tripping him up on the way passed. She followed up with another stab to Sokka's exposed shoulder. Quickly, he grabbed her wrist and pulled, causing Kimi to lose her balance just enough for Sokka to deliver a kick to her torso, sending her sprawling back into the tall grass.

Kimi landed roughly in the foliage, and allowed herself to rest there for a moment just to catch her breath. Exhausted, she rolled onto her back and just stared up to the sky, enjoying the moment of peace.

A flash of green caught her eye. There, on a low hanging branch, a small thread of green fabric fluttered in the cool breeze. She was too exhausted to think cohesively, but even in this state she could tell the fabric didn't belong in this forest.

Something must have put it there, she decided. And with that realisation, Kimi sprang to her feet.

"Ready for one more round? I think there are some parts of my skin that still don't have bruises on them," Sokka joked as he saw Kimi rise to her feet.

Kimi reached out to pull the thread from the branch it had caught on. "Shush for a moment, will you?"

"Is something wrong?" Sokka asked, not understanding what his friend was doing.

Kimi scanned the ground, moving to examine minute details of the clearing she hadn't taken any notice of before. A tuft of grass flattened over here, a broken branch over there. A picture began to paint itself in her mind.

Sokka gradually began to realise what she was doing.

"Was somebody here?" he asked, all traces of humour gone. This was serious.

"I think somebody was spying on the town from that tree," she pointed to the tree she'd fallen under. "I'm going to see if I can find out where they went."

But Sokka wasn't paying attention. He was looking back towards the town. He could see a lot from here. The position of the watchtowers, the cranes rising above the palisade walls...

And just past the large church, there was the assembly pavilion the soldiers had gathered at to plan their attack only a few hours ago. From this angle, he could see it all perfectly.

"Kimi…" Sokka began, but he couldn't complete the sentence.

"Be quiet! I'm trying to concentrate here! I think they might have gone back into the forest just before we arrived. They might have even seen us coming..."

"Come look at this."

Sokka pointed towards the town. Kimi's face turned pale as she saw where he was pointing.

"Agni preserve us," she whispered. She grabbed Sokka's hand and pulled him down the hill. "Quick, there might still be time to warn them!"


	7. Chapter 7

Kimi dragged Sokka through the bustling construction site, pushing through citizens and soldiers alike. Nothing mattered to her other then warning the soldiers before they could step right into the trap.

She rounded a corner and nearly collided into Amar.

"Kimi!" he shouted, stumbling backwards out of her way. "You better have a good reason for running through the town like a rabid komodo-rhino."

"You have to call off the attack!" Kimi shouted between heavy breaths.

"Excuse me?"

"They had a spy on the hill overlooking town!" Sokka explained for her, stumbling over the words slightly. "Jet knows about the attack!"

Amar's face paled. "I… the troops entered the forest two hours ago. I'm afraid we might be too late, but I'll send for a messenger hawk and hope to Agni they haven't attacked yet." He pointed to a passing patrol. "You! Fetch a hawk! Double time!"

"Yes sir!" The soldier gave Amar a hasty salute and sprinted off.

Amar pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a quick message against a piece of timber. The soldier returned five minutes later with a hawk flying above him. The hawk stood still obediently for Amar to attach the message and send it off flying into the forest.

"And now, we wait. And pray."

The minutes ticked on as they waited nervously, neither of them willing to speak. Kimi had taken to nervously pacing back and forth while Sokka rolled his jawblade between his fingers. He was surprised about how worried he was about the lives of Fire Nation soldiers. It was hard to see them as evil incarnate when they seemed so human.

The sun had set below the treeline when a loud horn pierced the still air.

"What does that mean?" Sokka asked Kimi.

But Amar answered for her. "It means that Shin has returned. Come, we should go to the northern gate.

His normally rigid posture was slumped with resignation, and It didn't take Sokka long to figure out why. There hadn't been enough time for them to have gotten the hawk and return to the town. Unless they had already been on their way back.

The sight that met him at the gate confirmed his suspicions. The soldiers that returned looked nothing like the clean and ready ones that had stood before him earlier that day. They were dirty, tired and defeated. Some were using spears as walking sticks, others were supporting wounded comrades wrapped in mud-stained bandages or carrying stretchers. These were no longer the disciplined ranks of troops he'd grown to associate with the Fire Nation.

And these were only the ones that came back. There were a lot of faces missing from the crowd.

"We were too late," Kimi whimpered beside him.

Townsfolk had lined the streets to watch the soldiers return. None of them could bring themselves to make a noise, as if speaking would make this nightmare a reality.

Lieutenant Shin was the last soldier to enter with Akio slung limply over his shoulders. The Lieutenant's iconic helmet was missing and there was a still bleeding wound in his cheek. But his face was still set in a mask of grim defiance, in sharp contrast to the defeated looks on his men.

He passed Akio gently into the waiting arms of two of the townsfolk, who carried the wounded soldier to Ah Lam's tent, then turned to Amar.

"Lieutenant…" Amar surveyed the growing number of wounded being led into the town and took a shaky breath. "What happened?"

"There were too many of them. Jet must have rallied every damn rebel in this half of the province against us. They'd recruited Earthbenders, enough to bury a whole damn squadron. And they knew. They knew we were coming…"

Shin looked past Amar and scanned the faces of the assembled townsfolk. The world seemed to narrow down as Shin's eyes met Sokka's. He advanced, stepping around Amar and walking briskly towards the Water Tribe teen.

"Yes, my granddaughter and her friend discovered evidence that a spy had…" Amar paused when he realised Shin wasn't listening to him. "Lieutenant, what are you doing?"

But Shin wasn't listening. His walk turned into a run as he barreled towards Sokka, who felt an icy trickle of fear as he looked up into the burning eyes of the Fire Nation Lieutenant.

"You…" Shin growled as he finally got close enough to Sokka to grab him roughly by his arm and slam him into a building. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't paint this wall red, traitor!"

Sokka had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from crying out in pain. Shin was digging his fingers into the wound on his shoulder, twisting it painfully. A crowd had gathered around them, shocked at the unexpected violence from their Lieutenant.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sokka managed to say. "I would never help Jet."

"No? Then how about the Avatar?"

Sokka's heart felt like a lead weight in his chest. Shin _knew_. Jet had told them something, he must have! Because Shin _knew who he was._ Was this Jet's revenge, to have him sent to a Fire Nation prison and tortured for information?

"Lieutenant, release him!" Amar ordered.

Shin glared at Sokka and let him drop to the ground. "As you wish."

The crowd backed off to let Sokka recover. He rubbed his arm and subtly looked for an escape route. But it was hopeless, he'd be caught before he got off the ground.

Amar stood before Shin and spoke to him with ice in his voice. "Now, explain yourself."

"He's the traitor, the one who must have tipped Jet off about our plan," Shin argued.

"And how do you know this?" Amar countered. "It hardly makes sense for somebody who risked their life to save our town to want to destroy it."

"And Sokka was with me all day," Kimi leapt to his defence. "He couldn't have tipped off anybody about the attack, I would have seen it."

"We already know where they got their information from," Amar continued for his granddaughter, pointing up towards the hill. "Kimi and Sokka discovered evidence that a scout had used that hill overlooking town as a vantage point. I had hoped to send a hawk to warn you, but we were too late."

Shin seemed a bit taken aback by their words, but he pressed on. "Then what about the Avatar? I duelled Jet and he had a lot to say about you, Sokka. How you helped the Avatar flood the valley then got cold feet at the last moment. How you have been a thorn in the FIre Nation's side since you arrived in the Earth Kingdom. And how you're really from the Southern Water Tribe."

Sokka looked down to avoid the scrutinizing gaze of the townsfolk. They bored down into him like arrows, making him wish the earth would swallow him up. It would be a better fate then what the Fire Nation had in store for him. He tried to speak, but no words came to his lips.

"Why believe the words of that madman?" Amar questioned, though he seemed to be curious.

"We know the Avatar's Sky Bison was sighted, just after Sokka left our town. We know that the Avatar travels with two teenagers from the Southern Water Tribe, a boy and a girl. It seems awfully coincidental that somebody who matches the description of one of the Avatar's companions would show up during an Avatar sighting. And we should be ashamed for not making the connection sooner. I don't know why Jet would tell us this, perhaps he just wanted revenge and thought we'd do it for him. But the evidence is clear to me: Sokka is an enemy of the state."

Silence reigned over the town as everyone absorbed Shin's words. And one by one, they looked to Sokka damningly. Kimi's eyes watered and she knelt down so she was eye level with him.

"Is it true? Sokka, you have to tell me."

He couldn't meet her eyes.

Amar looked around at the faces of the people he was charged with leading and then down at the injured teenager.

"Take him to the holding cell. We will convene to decide his fate."

Two soldiers grabbed Sokka around the arms and hoisted him to his feet, dragging him away. A hundred pairs of eyes watched him in silence. Sokka looked back, though for what he wasn't sure. His eyes met Kimi for a brief moment, he could see they were red with withheld tears. But she turned away and left, leaving Sokka to his fate.

* * *

Sokka was thrown roughly into the cell, sprawling onto the cold and slimy stone ground. He scrambled up and tried to make for the door, but the soldiers slammed it shut with a resounding clang.

"You'll be getting really familiar with these walls, at least until we send you to the labour camps," the soldier sneered down at him. "Or until those terrorists come in here and butcher you."

They slammed the steel door shut with a clang, leaving Sokka in total darkness, save for a small opening at the top of the wall which let in the faint light of the moon. Water dripped down the walls, pooling on the rotting slime-covered floor. The room reeked of decay.

"I'm not going to die here," Sokka whispered to himself. Katara and Aang still needed him. His people still needed him, and he wasn't going to let them down by dying alone and helpless in the dark.

He ran his hands along the base of the cell bars, probing for a weakness he could exploit. The Fire Nation designed their buildings to last, but these bricks looked decades old. And this room had been flooded for days. If there was just a bit of loose ground…

There! Right next to the corner of the cell was a crack in the brick. Sokka gave it an experimental shove with his good shoulder and was rewarded with a slight bend in his cell bar.

"You won't make it in time," a voice spoke out from the darkness.

Sokka leapt back like he'd been burnt and spun around to peer into the cell next to him. He had thought the other cell was empty.

"Who are you?" Sokka asked warily, stepping closer to the bars dividing the cells to get a better view. If he squinted, he could just make out a figure leaning against the opposite wall through the gloom.

Suddenly the figure leapt off the ground and made to grab Sokka through the bars! Her figures just brushed his shirt as he stumbled back and landed on the ground. He looked up to see Smellerbee's face pressed up against the bars separating them, baring her teeth to him.

"Look at you, a weakling to the very end," she sneered down at him.

Sokka leapt back to his feet and faced her and growled. "I am not weak!"

"You were too weak to do what needed to be done. The Fire Nation has to be destroyed, and you were too cowardly to follow through! Jet was strong enough to make those decisions, you're nothing compared to him!"

"Strong? Where is the strength in attacking a village of civilians?! You call me weak, when all you and your cowardly band of murderers do is terrify a small and isolated village from the safety of your treehouse? I'm taking the Avatar to the North Pole. What have _you_ done? You strike against defenceless women and the children, then hide when you're made to pay for your actions! The Fire Nation is right. You're no warriors, you're just terrorists."

"That's not weakness, that's just a good strategy. Bit by bit, we'll wipe this forest and then the world of these Fire Nation imperialists. Jet was strong enough to realise the necessity of our actions," Smellerbee's voice fell to a whisper. "You weren't even strong enough to look Longshot in the eyes when you killed him."

He'd honestly forgotten about Longshot. Sokka didn't like to think about it. Knowing he now had blood on his hands was not a good feeling. But it was necessary. If his father was here, he'd tell Sokka that what he did was justified self defence.

"Is that what this is about? You're angry I killed your boyfriend without looking him in the eyes? Do you look into the eyes of all the civilians you've killed? Because I have, and these people aren't evil. Not like you."

Smellerbee rolled her eyes. "Pathetic, only three days and the Fire Nation has already gotten to you with their talk about bringing 'peace' and 'prosperity'. Have you already forgotten what they did to our villages? How they burnt your tribe to the ground?"

How dare she! He growled and lunged forward, sending his fist flying towards her face. But Smellerbee danced out of his range.

"I haven't forgotten anything! In fact, I remember it all the better. Because your vicious band of killers are just like the ones that used to prey on my people!"

"And how did that work out for you? You're not out there. You're in a prison cell, just like me and all the others who fight against Fire Nation expansion," Smellerbee grinned viciously. "I'm insulted to be in the presence of somebody whose loyalty could be shifted so easily."

She bit her lip to draw blood and spat it at him, leaving a red stain on his tunic.

"It doesn't matter. I did what was right," he wiped the bloodied spit from his clothes, face wrinkled in disgust. "You're just a rabid animal."

Smellerbee laughed at him. "You really are the weak link in the Avatar's little clique. Even now, you defend these invaders! If you want so badly to stand beside these Fire Nation scum, then you can die with them!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come one," she rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "I didn't pick you for an idiot too. Very well. Jet has united every other revolutionary group in the provinces under his leadership, and he's going to free us all from the Fire Nation's clutches. Starting with this town. There won't be any more hiding in the forests for us!"

Sokka paled. He had no idea that Jet had the men to attack the town directly. "Why are you telling me this?"

"It doesn't matter if you know or not, there aren't enough soldiers to defend Gaipan anyway. And even if you did tell them, who would believe the Water Tribe traitor?" she laughed bitterly. "My only regret is not being able to join the attack myself. But if I'm lucky, Jet might still give me the privilege of gutting you for what you did to Longshot, even though I did disobey his orders to find you. Or he might want to carry out the deed himself. It matters not, I just want to see life leave your eyes."

"I'll stop you!" he shouted defiantly. Sokka didn't understand why he still felt obligated to help Gaipan, even after they'd imprisoned him. But he couldn't stand the thought of seeing any of his new friends dead, even if they no longer regarded him as such.

"How? Your new _friends_ locked you in a prison cell. You won't be going anywhere until Jet arrives, so I suggest you make your peace with whatever spirits you worship."

Smellerbee sat back down against the far wall, turning away from Sokka to tell him that the conversation was over. He stood there dumbly for a few seconds, before he turned back towards the metal bar in the cell. Hakoda always told him that a warrior never gave up without a fight and Sokka would be damned if he did so now, even in the face of insurmountable odds.

The sounds of clanging metal on stone resounded through the cells long into the night.

* * *

The shrill sound of metal on stone awoke Sokka to the feeling of wet stone on his face. It took him a moment to remember where he was, before it all came back to him.

"Hey, wake up!" a voice said, kicking the bars of the cell.

"Wha-?" Sokka murmured, still half asleep. He'd smashed through one of the bars somewhere around midnight, but the second one was a bit more resilient. Sokka guessed he must have passed out somewhere in the early morning.

"Get up, you've been called to the town hall."

Sokka peered up, squinting against the bright early morning sun. He recognised Akio, who was staring down at him imperiously. But whatever intimidation technique he was trying to pull off, the way he leant on his glaive to stay upright ruined it.

"What do they want?" Sokka sighed dejectedly.

"Show some respect, Water Tribe scum," Akio spat at him, but there was no energy behind his insult. The young soldier sighed and gave up on his show of force. Now he just looked tired.

"You're being released."

Sokka shook his head. "I must have been injured more than I thought, because I don't think my hearing is working correctly. It sounded like you just said I could go."

Akio sighed. "You heard right the first time."

"But why?" Sokka couldn't help but ask. "I'm working with the Avatar, why are you letting me go?"

Damn his impulsive mouth to the Wastes, why was he questioning Akio? If the Fire Nation was struck with a sudden surplus of mercy, he should take it before they had time to reconsider.

"The situation has changed."

Sokka didn't like the sound of that. "How so?"

"We received a… message from the rebels," Akio's eyes were misty and unfocused, like he was staring at something in the distance.

"What kind of message?"

"They've got us under siege. Any day now they'll attack and we'll need every able bodied person this town can provide. As much as you are our enemy, you can still hold a sword. The way I see it, the only way this ends with you alive is if these invaders are repelled. Jet will have your head if we lose."

His optimism was crushed as quickly as it arrived. Jet had already defeated a whole platoon of soldiers and that was more than half of Gaipan's forces. The survivors were still licking their wounds. Akio wouldn't be killing anything when he could barely stand. And if Jet was preparing an attack, the town had to be surrounded. Sokka was trapped here, stuck between a bloodthirsty terrorist and an imperialistic empire.

Tui and La, why was his luck always so horrible? All he wanted to do was get medicine for a sick sky bison, and now he was about to die.

_No, Sokka! Don't you dare leave me!_

He heard his sister's voice in his head and steadied his nerves. The voice might have been a figment of his imagination, but it was what Katara would say to him if she was here. And she was right, he'd be damned before he let her down by not even trying to survive.

"I'll do it," Sokka said after a moment's silence. Akio nodded and unlocked his cell door.

"Typical," Smellerbee commented from her own cell. "Traitor to the last breath, eh Sokka?"

He didn't have the energy to respond. Akio led him out of the dungeons and back to the surface.

"I'll enjoy seeing what remains your corpse after Jet sends you to the afterlife."

Sokka turned back to meet the hate-filled eyes of the girl in the cell. "I'll be sure to take a few of your friends with me."

He slammed the cell door shut, leaving Smellerbee alone in her cell.

* * *

The atmosphere of the town hall was unnerving, to say the least. The normally chaotic cacophony of voices had fallen silent. The sound of hopelessness.

Some eyes turned to Sokka as he entered with Akio, but nobody could bring themselves to care. He sat near the back of the room, watching as Shin and Amar convened between themselves in hushed whispers. Tuning out their voices, Sokka scanned the crowd for the familiar face of his firebender friend. But Kimi was nowhere to be found.

Amar nodded at something Shin had said and stood up to address the crowd. He cleared his throat, but the action was unneeded. Everybody's attention had been focused on him all morning.

"I won't lie to you, the future of our town is uncertain," His voice carried through the room, reaching every person. "But Gaipan has faced off against insurmountable odds before and each time we have stood strong against them. And now we must do so again."

He waited for his words to sink in before speaking again.

"We will have more information on our defensive plan within the hour. In the meantime, I offer you this time to return to prepare yourselves. Cetaka has generously donated his supply of weapons for the defence. Find one to your liking in the town square, if you do not already have your own. And may Agni be with you."

The crowd dispersed, passing by Sokka silently. He didn't know why, but he stayed behind. There was something niggling in the back of his mind, drawing him here. Perhaps it was the desire to not spend the next hour wandering aimlessly feeling useless, but whatever it was it gave Sokka the courage to approach the high table.

"They will attack under the cover of night," Shin asserted. "The lack of visibility favours them, they know where we are and can turn our soldiers into pincushions with their archers, but the darkness will prevent us from launching a counterattack. Our soldiers can't attack what they can't see and it's hard enough to see anything in that blasted forest even under the light of day. They'll be virtually invisible at night. And what firebenders we have left will be weaker without the sun."

Shin paused to collect himself. There was a lot of pain on his face and Sokka couldn't blame him. To have led so many men and women to their deaths would weigh heavily on the soul of any true leader.

"So counterattacking is definitely off the table," another officer mused. "Our strategy should then make use of the town's existing fortifications. Make the enemy come to us, where visibility is better. We should also disassemble the refugee tents, to centralise our defence to one fortifiable location."

"What about the river?" Shin brought up, tracing his finger along the town map. "Do you think they could cross it?"

Amar peered down at the map. "I don't think so. The trees on this side of the river are on a hill, it gives them high ground and increases the range of their attacks. But the river is too wide for archers to hit the other side. If they cross, they'll be doing it without any support. Our firebenders could simply burn through whatever rafts they assemble. I think we can rule out an attack from the river."

"But we can't see the other side of the river clearly in the dark, if they attack at night they could be upon us before we have a chance to shoot back."

Akio stepped forward. "Permission to speak, sir?"

"Any ideas are welcome, Private." Shin nodded.

"Perhaps we could design spotlights? With some fire and polished metal, we could illuminate the river and treelines. Give our own archers something to shoot at."

Shin considered the idea for a bit. "That idea has merit. What do you think, Master Amar?"

"It would certainly help, Gaipan has the resources and craftsmanship to make these spotlights," Amar agreed, and turned to Cetaka. "Do you think you could design these?"

The blacksmith nodded. "I can have them ready by the afternoon. Excellent idea, Akio."

Amar nodded politely to the private and turned back to Shin. "But what I'm concerned about is the earthbenders they have under their command. Lieutenant, how much did you see?"

Sokka turned as he heard the door open and close behind him. To his surprise, he saw Kimi enter the room and take a seat near the back of the town hall, watching her grandfather talk with the officers. She refused to meet his gaze.

"I don't know for certain, but we fought at least a dozen," Shin continued, not noticing Kimi's arrival. "I'd guess around 20 or so in total. I suspect the fall of our Earthbender Detainment Facility out in the ocean may have something to do with it."

"How skilled were they? Our palisade can stop arrows but it would not hold up against trained earthbenders."

"Again, it's hard to say. If a few of them worked together, they could bombard the town from the treeline. They're certainly not army material. We killed three of them in our attack and could've got more if we were closer."

"Then we should get Jiro to fortify the walls," the other officer suggested. "And send scouting parties ahead to find and neutralise the Earthbender squadrons. I know it's dangerous, but against earthbenders our defensive strategy is useless."

"What about the spotlights?" A voice interrupted them.

A dozen pairs of eyes turned to look at him. It took Sokka a few seconds to realise he'd been the one to speak.

"Er… I mean, if you have them, you could use them to spot where the attacks are coming from and fire back with a small group of archers," he finished, his voice faltering under the piecing glares of the officers. Why did he always have to speak up at the worst moments?

Shin looked like he was about to speak up, but Amar beat him to it. "That's not a bad idea. We could assign squadrons of 5 to 10 archers to each spotlight and use the spotlights to target where they came from."

The other officers nodded in agreement, if a bit reluctantly.

"I just wish we had artillery. A few catapults and we could give those Earthbenders a nasty surprise," the third officer mused.

Amar laughed ruefully. "Don't we all, Endano. But we can't bring anything into the town and we don't have enough metal or time to make even one catapult, let alone enough to turn the tide of a battle. We can only use what we have here."

That got Sokka thinking. Hakoda had always stressed the importance of ingenuity and resourcefulness in all of his lessons. Such traits were the hallmarks of a Water Tribe warrior. In the barren tundra of the South Pole, finding a way to succeed with limited or seemingly useless resources wasn't just efficient, it was necessary for survival.

But what did Gaipan have? There was construction equipment. That could come in handy, if they had something useful to build. They had materials, which could be used in traps if they could solve the issue of the Earthbenders just flattening everything they built. Cetaka had a store filled with fireworks, perhaps they could be used to signal…

Or maybe…

Sokka allowed himself a small smile. He'd been hit with sudden inspiration and now had a tentative idea of how to defend Gaipan. With a bit of luck, it just might work.

"What if we could build something just as good?" Sokka spoke up. Again, he found himself the target of the scrutiny of a whole Fire Nation war room. But he was confident and pressed on.

"Cetaka, you still have those fireworks?"

"Yeah, I have a few dozen crates I haven't been able to sell in the warehouse. What of them?"

Sokka fumbled around for a piece of paper and pushed his way to the table. He stole a pencil and scribbled down his idea.

"We can bind a bundle of fireworks together, like this," he sketched out the design proposal. "With the fuses all tied together. And with the towns spare wood and construction materials, we can design guiding rails to launch them from."

Shin looked like he wanted to execute Sokka right then and there for interrupting the war room, but even he was intrigued. Amar silently commanded the Lieutenant to let the Water Tribe teen continue.

"With all the fireworks I have in storage, we could have enough ammunition for hundreds of these devices," Cetaka nodded in approval, willing to give Sokka the time to outline his proposal. "But what do you expect this to accomplish by making these things?"

"An artillery substitute! I remembered that accident from a few days ago. The fireworks burnt down the tree canopies and made an inferno out of the underbrush. I think this design could be capable of replicating that effect, which would give Gaipan the weapons it needs to strike hard against the archers and earthbenders Jet will field."

He quickly doodled down a picture of the battlefield and his design behind the palisade walls, showing how the fireworks would arc over the trees and strike down from the sky, complete with whooshing noises.

"Fireworks are hardly accurate," Shin pointed out. "I doubt these weapons could reliably hit anything."

"They don't need to be accurate," Sokka countered. "We can build enough of them that even moderate accuracy would be enough to hit something. And even a near miss can be useful. Fireworks produce a lot of smoke, which would block the vision of their archers. And if the trees start burning, the smoke could even suffocate some of them."

Amar was certainly interested. He picked up the paper Sokka had been drawing on and studied the doodles closely.

"And you're sure this could work?" Amar asked, not looking up from the paper.

Sokka paused for a moment. He didn't honestly think they would take his idea seriously. Now he felt unsure of himself. If they accepted his idea, it wouldn't leave much time for other preparations. If his idea failed, then Gaipan would be worse off then if he'd just shut up. He looked around absentmindedly and his eyes accidentally met Kimi's. She was studying him, with those golden Fire Nation eyes. How long had she been looking at him? But she wasn't looking at him with disappointment like she had last night. If anything, her eyes glowed with… approval?

"I think the firework idea could work," Sokka affirmed, meeting Kimi's gaze.

"Be that as it may, I must agree with Shin. I have concerns about the accuracy of this design," Cetaka explained, taking the design paper from Amar. "We're shooting at targets we can't see. Combining this design with the spotlights will be like trying to shoot a moapig with a broken crossbow."

That was a good point, Sokka admitted. Accuracy would be non-existent if they had to shoot these things at night as well. But after a moment of consideration, he had another idea.

"What if we didn't need the spotlights?"

"Now you're just talking hypotheticals," Shin sighed. "Jet would never attack during the day."

"Not necessarily. Say what you will about Jet, he considers his Freedom Fighters his family. Maybe even children," Sokka pointed out. "They're the second most important thing to him, behind destroying the Fire Nation. If one of them was in danger, he'd go to extreme lengths to save them."

"That is true," Shin relented. "I saw how he reacted after you killed his archer, that kind of mindless anger would overrule Jet's strategic reasoning if it could be harnessed to our benefit. And…" Shin smiled at Sokka, much to the teen's surprise. "We have one of his Freedom Fighters in a cell."

"That we do," Sokka agreed, happy Shin was understanding his idea. "If we threaten her life, he'd attack early to save her. If we stage her execution this afternoon, he'd attack in the daylight hours. It would make him rush his preparations and give us the strategic advantage of being able to fire back. And it would put the evening sun at our backs, making it harder for the enemy archers to shoot back at us."

"It's a pity you were born Water Tribe, young man," Endano commented dryly. "If you had been born Fire Nation, you'd have made a fine officer in our army. Maybe even a General."

Sokka shifted awkwardly at the praise and looked down at his feet. A Fire Nation General? Him? He'd have laughed at the thought, if he didn't feel so oddly prideful. Back home, he'd never been more than a young boy trying and failing to fill his father's shoes. But the Fire Nation clearly held their generals in high regard, so to be compared to them by an army officer was high praise indeed.

A flash of movement caught his eye. Kimi slipped out silently from the front door, not looking back. He suddenly felt more alone in the room knowing she had departed.

Amar tapped the table to get the attention of everyone. "Well, if Cetaka thinks we can complete this project by this afternoon, I say we should go with Sokka's plan. It's the best one we have. Any objections?"

Dead silence. Some still looked uncertain, but they didn't speak out.

"It'll be hard, but I think I can make enough of these for the attack if I can enlist civilian help. Do I have your permission?" Cetaka asked.

"Do whatever you need to do."

"Understood. I'll head back to my workshop. These sketches could do with some… improvements."

The blacksmith limped out, leaving Sokka with the officers.

"Very well. Meeting adjourned." Amar announced. "And let's hope your plan works, Sokka."

Sokka nodded numbly as the weight of his responsibility sunk in. They'd put the fate of the town in the hands of this plan. It was a sobering thought. If this plan failed then the fall of Gaipan and the deaths of all its citizens would be his fault.

_Please Universe, just once can you let something work for me?_


	8. Chapter 8

"Be careful with that!" Cetaka ordered, rushing over to take a bundle of fireworks out of one of a worker's hands. He bound the fuses together in one fluid movement and passed it back. Twisting his hands nervously, he surveyed the others.

Work had begun the second the meeting at the war room had ended. Gaipan was busier than ever, citizens bound fireworks together with reeds and placed them on hastily manufactured launch rails while others dug trenches and traps between the treeline and the palisade. The morning sun's slow ascension reminded everyone that time was quickly running out.

Sokka hoped this insane plan would work. Gaipan's fate rested on it. Even though Shin had reluctantly accepted his battleplan, it was only for a lack of any other option and Sokka knew it. The townsfolk had complied, but only out of respect for the Lieutenant. They didn't trust him or this plan, if the bitter looks they gave him were anything to go by.

That was fair. Sokka didn't trust this plan either.

He hadn't seen Kimi since the meeting in the war room that morning. She'd slipped away the second it was over, refusing to meet his eyes. If he had to guess, she'd be helping the Fire Nation archers. But he was wise enough to know he was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"I don't like it," Cetaka commented. "Weaponizing fireworks, it can only end poorly. Especially when handled by people who wouldn't know which end the fire comes out of," he said, as he dismissively gestured to a nearby group of villagers who were warming themselves around a small fire. "Excuse me for a second."

Shaking his head, Cetaka stormed over to the group. "What's going on here!" he bellowed, making them all jump. "What part of 'highly flammable' did you not understand!? You want to burn the town down before those damned terrorists get the chance?"

They mumbed hasty apologies and scrambled away from the fireplace.

By the town gate, a group of soldiers were carrying large bundles wrapped in white sheets into the town. Each bundle was just a bit bigger than Sokka himself and carried by two soldiers each.

"That was our 'message'," Cetaka spoke grimly. "A scout found them piled up outside the town last night. You'll find the rest of them outside of the gate, if you feel like losing your breakfast."

From the shape and the way the bundles sagged, Sokka knew what he'd find if he looked outside. And yet, he had to. Whether it was because of morbid curiosity or simply closure, he needed to see.

Silently, Sokka braced himself for what was over the wall. With a few sharp breaths, he peered around and felt sick to his stomach. Bodies. All stripped bare, stacked in a neat pyramid shape. Sokka shuddered. He could even recognise a few faces in the pile. One by one, the bodies were wrapped in silk and carried into town by mournful soldiers. He could recognise Jiro, clutching a partially wrapped body and weeping.

Sokka turned away. He didn't want to look anymore.

Cetaka sighed. "I'll inspect the western batteries if you go take the north. Try not to think about it, OK?"

"Understood," Sokka replied, his voice wavering slightly. He spared a moment to compose himself. For now, he would remain strong. If he faltered, it would shatter what little faith Gaipan had left.

Deep down, he was glad that Cetaka had taken charge of most of the preparations. If Sokka gave more than single word answers he was afraid he'd let on how nervous he felt. It was like his guts had twisted into a painfully constricting knot, but he'd sooner march into the forest alone then admit he was doubting his own plan.

The launch rails had been constructed only an hour ago. They were little more than two pieces of leftover timber nailed together in a v-shape to at least give them a hope at aiming these things. It had been Shin's idea to hide them behind the walls until the moment of attack. If Jet figured out their plan before the hour of the attack, it would give him time to adapt accordingly. And then it would all be over before the battle even started.

For that reason, there had been no test firing. Sokka had come up with crazy ideas before but it felt wrong to put his faith in an untested idea. The small sand weights Cetaka had installed in the fireworks to get them to arc downwards had been added based on some hastily drafted equations even the firework engineer himself admitted were little more than approximations. For all Sokka knew, the fireworks wouldn't even make it to the forest.

Eager for something to take his mind off his nervousness, Sokka picked up a few fireworks and began to bind the fuses together. But just as he finished his first bundle, the sound of tiny boots on dirt interrupted.

"Look Sokka!"

Sokka turned, just in time for Moriko to leap at him, tiny sparks dancing around her closed fists.

"Moriko! Put those sparks away!" He held the firework bundle as far away as he could from the child's poor attempt at firebending.

"But I can help! I want to fight the bad guys!"

"No, Moriko. I…" Sokka paused. How was he supposed to explain to a child their enemies would butcher her without hesitation? Silently, he lamented that he had to be the one to put the fear of death in such an innocent girl. A sudden burst of inspiration hit him. "We need you to protect the younger kids!"

Moriko's eyes widened. "Reeeaallyy?!" she squealed.

"Yes, now go find Amar. He's stocked his basement with enough supplies for a few days but the younger kids are going to need you to keep them safe and happy, OK?"

"I'll do my best!" she promised before sprinting away back into town.

Sokka gave her a smile, then frowned as realisation hit him. Hakoda had pulled the _exact_ same trick on him, all those years ago. Those years were a distant memory, but he could just remember how he felt at Moriko's age. He'd been a little more than a weak boy back then with delusions of grandeur when his tribe was attacked. Like a little wolf cub nipping the heels of the alpha.

But he wasn't weak anymore. Now, he could bite back. And by day's end, Jet's band of murderers would be defeated and Gaipan would be safe.

At least, he hoped.

* * *

"You damnable traitor! Face me like a warrior!" Smellerbee screamed, spittle flying out of her mouth. She lurched towards Sokka, straining against the iron grip of the two soldiers. One of them backhanded her across the head, causing her to lose her footing and hang limply in their arms.

They bound her to a stake in the middle of town, surrounded by a pile of scrap wood. The way the wood was arranged, it reminded Sokka of a campfire. His eyes widened in realisation.

"They're going to burn her alive?!"

"Archaic, but it's more of a mercy than she deserves," a familiar voice said to his left. He turned to see Kimi standing next to him, watching the preparations.

"Kimi! I- er-" He struggled to find the words to express what he was feeling. How did one apologise for hurting somebody's feelings while not apologising for why they did it?

"Save it," Kimi interrupted him. There was anger and hurt in those glaring golden eyes. "You lied to me, Sokka. I thought we could've been friends. Led the Fire Nation to victory together. But you had to be a Water Tribe spy."

"I'm not a spy! I just wanted to help my friends. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well you failed!"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he sighed and turned back to the ongoing execution. Amar had stepped up to the podium. He carried a wreath and a tightly bound scroll. Two guards stood beside him, spears leveled at the prisoner.

"Now as far as I am concerned this is little more than a waste of time. But the Fire Nation is a nation of laws and we must respect the old ways. You, Smellerbee, are found guilty to the murder of Fire Nation soldiers Yun and Kazuo, being a member of an organisation designated as an enemy of the state, being an accomplice to the murder of 173 people and attempted murder of over 300. How do you plead?"

Smellerbee glared defiantly at Amar.

"Bite me, Ashmaker."

Amar gave her a tired look and turned to one of the soldiers. "Light the fire."

Sokka meanwhile turned back to Kimi. "For what it's worth, I wished we things ended better between us. If I'd been born in the Fire Nation, or you in the Water Tribe, I think we could've been friends."

"I know," she didn't meet his eyes. "But I've got a war to win and you've got an Avatar to help end it. We can't be friends if one day we could meet each other on the battlefield."

"I know," Sokka echoed her. "Though I do wish it could be different."

"So do I."

They stood together in silence, watching the firebenders prepare the bonfire, Smellerbee yelling obscenities to the very end.

"If we survive this," Kimi began, drawing Sokka's attention. "I'll consider the slate between us clear. The good and bad. If you ever grow tired of babysitting the Avatar, I'll welcome you as a friend."

"As will I, if you ever want to stop fighting for imperialism," he shot back with a smile. The two teens laughed together, glad they could find some common ground. Both knew this could possibly be the last friendly moment they had together. If they met again, it would be to kill each other.

Just then, an arrow shot out of the sky and narrowly missed Amar. With a flash of silver, he drew his sword and deflected two more arrows with one clean stroke.

"Take cover!" a soldier shouted, breaking the onlookers out of their stupor. Soldiers raced to man their positions and civilians ducked under whatever cover they could find. Smellerbee laughed as the arrows rained down around her.

Sokka pulled Kimi behind a wall, saving her from the hail of arrows aimed at the two teens. Jet had taken the bait, just as Sokka expected. Now that the battle was upon them, he felt his nerves steadying. There was no fear. This was what he was born for.

"We have to get to the wall and fall in with the other defenders!" Kimi shouted, hugging the wall as she pulled him down into a back alley. "Let's all just pray your plan works."

They scurried through the alleys, staying close to the walls to avoid the arrows. Sokka jumped as a tremor shook through the ground. Fragments of stone pelted the roofs like rain. Together, the two teens sprinted the last few metres and took cover under the palisade. Civilians and soldiers alike were setting up the final preparations on the first firework volley. Kimi gave Sokka a quick wave goodbye as she ran over to join the Fire Nation archers.

Akio spotted Sokka and waved him forward. "Sokka, just in time. We need the firing angle for the launchers."

"54 degrees for the first volley, then 43!" Sokka shouted back over the chaos of war. A boulder sailed through the air, demolishing a nearby house and sending a cloud of debris raining down on assembled defenders.

"You heard him!" Akio shouted. "Take aim! 54 degrees!"

As one, the launcher barrels pointed up into the sky. Rocket bundles were loaded and prayers were whispered. Akio waited a few seconds for everyone to be prepared. The crews on the launchers were untrained, and Sokka could already see that a few had been aimed incorrectly. But they had no time for corrections. If they delayed for any longer Jet would crush them all under a hail of earth.

"FIRE!"


	9. Chapter 9

Jet was having a good day.

A few favours called in here, a few threats there and Jet now commanded the largest revolutionary militia in the province. All those that may have questioned his right to command the militia found out quickly that Jet's age did not mean that he was weak. They fell into line, one way or another. It was better this way. Alone, none of them could accomplish much. But as a single force they could take on a small army.

He need only look down at the little town of Gaipan to assure himself of this. The town's forces were a far cry from a small army, especially after the losses from their failed attack yesterday. But Jet would never have dared attack a Fire Nation town head on like this only a week ago. Now, the oh so great soldiers of the Fire Nation Army cowered like cornered rats. His army outnumbered them five to one and with Freedom Fighter's archers raining down arrows on the town those gutless soldiers wouldn't even dare to leave their fortifications until they collapsed on top of them.

But Jet's ambitions were greater than one town. Gaipan would serve as an example. After he razed that blight of a town to its foundations, thousands would be inspired to flock to his banner and the Freedom Fighters would scour the country, delivering defeat and death to the Fire Nationals wherever they could be found until the province was free of their taint. And then, the world!

Privately, he admitted that his desire to see Gaipan reduced to rubble was not entirely impersonal. His teeth clenched at the memory. He'd been on the cusp of victory, even the Avatar was under his command! But it had all been taken from him by that traitor. The same traitor that had taken one of Jet's surrogate family members away and had fallen in with the ranks of his Fire Nation masters.

_He will pay dearly for that._

It had to be done. Sokka's corrupting influence had already spread to Katara and the Avatar, that was why they couldn't see the truth! If Jet didn't stop him now, he'd deliver the world's last hope straight to the Fire Lord. The fate of the entire Earth Kingdom was resting on Jet's shoulders. It was a heavy burden, but one he would gladly bear.

"Can you see him yet?" Jet called out to one of the archers in the tree canopy.

"No," The archer sighed. "Just like the last five times you asked," he murmured.

Jet glared up at the boy. "What was that!?"

The archer's eyes widened. "N-nothing, sir!"

"I bet you're not even looking!" Jet growled. "I bet you're with the traitor! Trying to deceive me, so he can escape!" He drew one of his hooked swords and pointed it at the trembling boy. "I should end you right here, Fire Nation scum! Just like all your friends!"

"N-no Jet! I… I'm looking!" the archer stammered out. "But he- he must be hiding! Trying to escape your righteous justice!"

Jet took a deep breath. "Yeah… yeah you're right! That coward, always running away! Well, tell me if you do see him."

He turned back to survey the battlefield. Having to save Smellerbee from the Fire Nation had been an unforeseen variable, forcing Jet to attack sooner than he would have liked, but the siege was proceeding according to plan. It wasn't like it would change the outcome of this siege anyway!

A boulder shot through the sky, obliterating a small house and Jet smirked. Those earthbenders were performing well. He had his doubts, as many of their little group of escapees had rejected his offer of an alliance. Jet feared another traitor (what was his name again? Hyru?) had already sown the seeds of doubt in the group. Why else would so many reject Jet's offer to cleanse the world of the ashmakers?

It didn't matter anyway. All the traitors would meet his sword, even if they were Earth Kingdom. Just like the one that had corrupted the earthbenders. Just like the one now leading the Fire Nation in defiance of Jet's glorious revolution!

A distant scream pierced the silence as another boulder punched through a watchtower. Jet could just make out figures scrambling to get clear of the wreckage and smiled. Run, Fire Nation scum. Retribution comes for you.

Yes, Jet was having a very good day.

" _He's mad, I tell you,"_ a voice whispered from the canopies. " _What does he think he's doing, attacking a Fire Nation town like this! Even if we win, the Fire Nation has a thousand more just like it! We can't afford to lose men at this rate. Jet'll have us all dead by summer."_

" _Quiet!,"_ another voice hissed. " _He could be listening! You don't want to end up like Wong!"_

Jet frowned. Wong had been a traitor, just like Sokka. He couldn't see the bigger picture. That kind of treason deserved punishment befitting of a Fire Nation spy. Jet made a mental note to pay a visit to those two archers when he returned victorious from Gaipan.

" _I say we just hide here until the battle's over,"_ the first voice proposed. " _Let the madman charge into the Fire Nation's spears. Hopefully they'll off him."_

" _You're just as mad as he is to speak like that in these forests! Jet has ears everywhere! He could be on his way now to… wait, do you see that? What's happening in the town!"_

They were right. The Fire Nation was up to something! White smoke billowed up from behind the wall and Jet could hear a slight hissing noise, even from all the way in the forest. What were they doing!?

Suddenly, great jets of multicoloured fire erupted from behind the wall. The hair on his neck stood on end. What kind of weapon was this? Around him, the attackers all paused to look up in awe at the spectacle.

And then the fire came arcing down like the talons of an angry spirit.

The Freedom Fighters shout in terror as the bolts of fire shoot through the canopies, exploding on the ground with a shower of sparks. The air was suddenly thick with smoke. His eyes burnt as they peered through the noxious gloom. People ran around him, trying to find cover from this shower of flame. They stumble and crash into each other, disoriented by the heavy smoke.

An archer fell from the tree, his cloak trailing flames. He tried in vain to bat the flames out, before he was silenced by a sickening crack as he hit the hard earth. Small flames danced in the leaves. To his growing horror, Jet realised they would soon take hold of the dry canopies.

Then came the second volley, even brighter than the last.

To Jet's relief, the volley sailed harmlessly over their head. His relief was quickly dashed as the purpose of the volley became apparent. The trees behind them had been set alight, creating a wall of fire and smoke. The orange of the setting sun was now mirrored by the ethereal and terrifying orange glow of a rapidly growing forest fire. A weakened branch fell to the ground, sending sparks dancing through the dry grass.

"We're trapped!" a voice wailed from somewhere in the veil of smoke.

Jet was level headed enough to realise that the bolts of fire exploded with far less ferocity than noise and flame would indicate, but the rising smoke was already starting to make his lungs burn. And the fire bolts kept on coming! They couldn't stay here. Retreat was still an option, not all paths out of the forest had been closed. It would take a few minutes for the canopies to catch and make retreat impossible, they still had time.

But Jet refused to be defeated again. He owed Longshot and the Earth Kingdom victory today.

"To me men!" Jet shouted over the screams. "We mustn't falter! The path to Gaipan is clear ahead! Archers, move to the treeline, take out those fire launchers! Earthbenders, turtle formation! Everyone else, with me!"

Whether it was his words that roused his men, or the realisation that the only way out of the forest led to the town itself, the expanded Freedom Fighters rallied to him and hastily assembled into their attack formations. The archers looked less than pleased about being ordered to remain behind near the inferno, but they wouldn't disobey his order.

Together they charged forward, tongues of flame lapping at them from all sides. Jet's eyes and lungs burned from the smoke, but he knew once he reached the clearing it would all be worth it.

* * *

"Haha, would you look at that!" Akio shouted, wide-eyed as flames began to lick the trees.

Sokka watched in awe as volley after volley shot off into the evening sky, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. It was working! His plan was working!

Whatever elation he felt was short lived, as a hail of arrow fire forced him to duck under the wall. A few of the rocket launcher crews fell to the ground as arrows sprouted on their bodies. Amidst the panic, Sokka took a moment to study the treeline. He could see glints of metal as enemy archers took shelter behind the tree trunks. If he could get a volley to hit them head on instead of from above...

He scrambled for a pencil and jotted down a quick calculation.

"Akio! We need a volley at 27 degrees!" He shouted over the pounding of earth projectiles.

"Copy that!" Akio nodded, then turned to the artillery crews. "27 DEGREES, DOUBLETIME!"

The launchers swivelled into position and fired, sending another burst of rainbow light arcing across the clearing. They struck true, shooting into the frontline of trees and sending sparks arcing into the sky. Smoke poured through the forest, enough to prevent the archers from seeing their targets. With any luck, they had gained some respite from the hail of arrows.

"Sokka, look!" Akio pointed out at the battlefield, where a tremendous shape was emerging from the forest.

With an ear-bleeding scraping noise a gigantic wedge of stone lurched forward out of the smoke haze. It was large enough to punch through a building! Sokka cursed silently. One threat dealt with, and a new one emerged.

"Get me an angle on that siege engine!" Akio ordered.

Sokka nodded and peered over the wall. He mentally traced the path of the rockets, imagining them arcing like his boomerang. Distances and angles were estimated in a split second, then ran through the equations Cetaka had taught him.

"63 degrees, we'll hit them from above!"

The orders were relayed and the rockets shot through the sky, smashing against the stone construct. It began to tremble and collapse, pieces of rock tumbling to the ground. Sokka held onto hope that they'd managed to take out a few earthbenders, only for his hopes to be dashed as the rock reformed. It lurched forward again, punching through the pitfalls and spiked barriers they'd set up like they weren't even there.

"Curse these earthbenders," Akio muttered. "That thing'll be on our walls soon and we don't have weapons heavy enough to take it out."

A segment of the stone wedge fell forward, giving Sokka a brief glimpse of an earthbender shooting a rock out of the gap before the barrier rose back up, shielding them from arrows. His comrade wasn't so lucky, but where he fell others took his place.

To Sokka's despair, another two stone wedges appeared out of the smoke. He racked his brain. They needed a solution to these siege weapons, and they needed it now! He only wished he could see more of the battlefield, but smoke was quickly making everything blur together.

Wait... If he couldn't see the siege weapons, then they couldn't see him. The explosive power of the fireworks may not be enough to shatter the earth armour of those siege formations, but if they could get close enough to one of them then maybe…

"Akio, can you lay down some fire between the front gate and that siege weapon?" Sokka asked. "I've got an idea I need to relay to Shin and the rest of the infantry."

Akio waved him off. "Anything's better than waiting around for those earthbenders to be on top of us. Go tell Shin, and make it quick! We don't have much time!"

He nodded and ran down to where the infantry had assembled in wait for the enemy to break the walls. Now, where had Cetaka kept those black powder barrels?

* * *

_Gaipan was an old village, established centuries ago by loggers in what was then the Kingdom of Omashu. It would not be until the rise of the Fire Nation that the massive saltpetre reserves were discovered under the hills._

_Miners would tunnel deep into the ground to extract the precious nitrates, which quickly became the town's chief export. Under the Fire Nation, new technologies allowed them to dig deeper. Even under the water table. Over the years, a vast tunnel system was carved out of the ground._

_But by the actions of rebels, it became too risky to travel beyond the town limits. The mines were left empty and abandoned. But even without maintenance, the Fire Nation's sturdy engineering ensured the tunnels would survive for decades longer._

* * *

Jet struggled to regain his footing as another tremor shook the ground and the earthen shield slid forward. Progress was slow, but relentless. They punched through traps, shrugged off arrows and even weathered a direct strike from those accursed fire launchers.

The three earthbenders stomped on the ground and punched forward, advancing another metre closer to Gaipan's wall. Jet crept forward slowly, keeping close to the wall. The Fire Nation's archers were quick to punish anybody foolish enough to expose themselves. Fire rained down around them, polluting the air with bitter fumes and suffocating smoke. It billowed up from the ground, blocking his vision of the battle field and the other two turtle formations. Still, they pushed on.

"Forward men!" Jet shouted as another hail of rockets spat flames around them. "Hold your faith! The Fire Nation will be defeated!"

The men shouted their war cries as the wall was pushed forward another metre, standing defiant against the Fire Nation's fury.

* * *

_20 years ago, the miners struck a particularly rich iron ore vein that ran all the way underneath Gaipan itself. Expecting a boom for the town's exports, funding was poured into developing a solution for extracting the ore. For years after, this ore vein added a handsome some of income on top of the town's existing saltpetre exports._

_It wasn't to be. As they dug closer to the town, sturdy rock gave way to porous soil. Water seeped in from underground reserves, halting progress dead in its tracks. It was deemed too expensive and unsafe to continue and so the tunnel was abandoned._

_But recent events had drained the aquifers, leaving the tunnel dry for the first time in decades._

* * *

The mood at the front gate was grim. A mere 20 soldiers stood ready with their glaives and crimson armour as the ground shook tiles off roofs with every rhythmic tremor. Precariously balanced, the five small barrels in Sokka's arms threatened to fall with each vibration.

"Sokka! What are you doing here?" Shin demanded. The Fire Nation Lieutenant cast an intimidating figure in his full Fire Nation regalia, minus his still missing helmet. Amar had donned his own armour and stood beside the Lieutenant.

"I've got an idea on how we can take out those earthbender constructs!"

It would be a miracle if Shin would listen to his idea, but Sokka held onto hope. The man had no reason to trust the Water Tribe teen, not anymore. It was only just dawning on Sokka that Shin could impale him and blame Jet's rebels and Gaipan would be none the wiser. If they cared at all. He gulped at the thought.

But to his relief, Shin nodded.

"Your ideas have been… decent, so far," he admitted. "I'll allow you to explain yourself."

"Right!" Sokka shouted, wincing at how his voice squeaked. He placed four of the barrels on the ground and held the last out for Shin to examine. "These are black powder kegs. It's what we put in the fireworks. Now we can't get enough firepower to destroy the enemy earth constructs, but if we could get close enough we could lob one of these over the wall and take out the entire squadron!"

"And how do you propose we get them there?" Amar questioned. "Their archers may be blind and routed, but even they can't miss an entire squadron of Fire Nation soldiers in the open. Not to mention the enemy earthbenders."

Sokka pointed to the west wall rocket launchers. "I've got them making a smokescreen between the gate and the closest enemy earth construct. It could be possible to sneak a small group under the cover of the smoke to the wall."

A boulder collided into one of the watchtowers, sending splinters flying everywhere. It creaked and with a sickening snapping noise collapsed. Soldiers backed away from the debris, narrowly avoiding being crushed. Two of them quickly cleared away some of the snapped planks to drag a groaning archer from the wreckage.

Shin quickly glanced at the wreckage and seeing none of his men were badly hurt turned back to Sokka. He sighed, leaning heavily on his glaive. Suddenly he seemed a decade older.

"Your idea is risky. I hope you know that. But it's not like we can wait for them to crack the wall. Very well. You'll accompany Jiro and another squadron."

Sokka nodded and turned away. Just as he was leaving, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Shin fixing him with a dour expression, a small barrel held in his hand.

"Forgetting something?" he asked pointedly. Three more of the explosive barrels were still sitting on the ground where Sokka had left them earlier.

He accepted the other barrels, face flushed red with embarrassment. As he left, Shin turned to Amar and shook his head.

"Agni help us."

* * *

_In their early days, the Freedom Fighters of Gaipan Forest rediscovered the mines. They spent weeks mapping the abandoned tunnel system, in the hopes of finding a way of tunnelling under the stone walls of the village. They quickly ran into the same problem as Gaipan's miners had a decade earlier; that any progress made was wiped out by rising water._

_The tunnel plan was abandoned for one using the town's own dam against them. But Jet wouldn't forget the tunnel beneath the valley._

* * *

Smoke suffocated everything. Sokka could barely see the man in front of him through the haze. Even the glow of the raging inferno consuming the tree line that had now spread to the evacuated tents couldn't piece the gloom. He'd nearly met a painful end stumbling into one of the traps they'd laid that morning, only saved by Jiro's timely intervention. Sokka cursed himself for overlooking one very important fact: that smoke obscured their vision just as well as it did the enemy.

He couldn't see, but he could hear. Rockets were whistling through the sky and explosions cracked the still air. As they crept closer to the siege weapon, Sokka could hear cries of pain and terror from the treeline as Jet's archers fought and died against the blaze. Others had chosen to charge the town alone rather than be caught by the flames, only to run afoul of unseen traps just like Sokka almost had. And yet despite the rumbling earth and ear-splitting cracks of fireworks, the small squadron of Fire Nation soldiers were silent.

"We're here," Jiro announced, voice muffled by a cloth mask. Sokka's own chafed against his skin, but it kept his lungs mercifully clean of smoke. Oh the wonders of Fire Nation engineering.

They pressed themselves against the ground as the towering earthen walls became visible. It looked a lot bigger up close. A feeling of doubt crept up on him. Would his bombs be enough to take down something this big?

"Be ready Sokka," Jiro commanded. "On three, I'll bring down the left part of the wall. Light the fuse on one. Their own walls will focus the blast back on them. The rest of you, be ready for anything. The last thing we want is them having the time to throw the bomb back at us."

Sokka gulped. "Right. Throw the bomb. Destroy the siege formation. Easy."

"That's the spirit! Now remember: light on one, throw on three. The rest of you, be prepared for a counterattack.

They nodded grimly. The plan was risky, but they didn't really have any other choice. It was fight or die.

"One…"

Sokka flicked the small lighter, igniting the end of the fuse. He prayed to whatever spirits were listening that he'd got the timing on the fuse right, or else he'd be leaving Gaipan in pieces.

"Two… Three!"

Jiro stomped and brought his fists to the ground, a side of the earthen wall going with him. A second later, Sokka lobbed the barrel at the gap just as the earthbenders rose their hands up to attack.

If they had raised the wall back up again, they might have had a chance. Sokka had waited too long. If they brought up the wall, the barrel would have bounced back to the Fire Nation squadron. But in their confusion, two of the earthbenders seemed to have tried to bend the same earth. One tried to raise a barrier to defend, the other tried to throw it forward at Jiro. The outcome was a weak lob of dirt that fell to the ground long before it could reach the Fire Nation earthbender.

With an ear-splitting crack, the construct was blown to pieces. A shockwave violently punched the air out of Sokka's lungs. Rocks were flung high into the air, raining down on his arms and back. He tried not to listen to the screams of enemies behind the wall.

"Haha! Hope that hurt you bastards!" Jiro taunted as he kicked forward, bringing the remains of the barrier down to crush anything that might have survived. "That's for Teja!"

"Focus Jiro!" a soldier shouted. "We're not finished yet!"

"Aye, but that felt good," Jiro grinned maniacally, still staring at the pile of rubble. He turned back to the soldiers and raised his fist. "With me, men! We're driving these invaders out of our land!"

"For the Fire Nation!"

* * *

Jet felt like he'd died. For a full minute, he just laid on his stomach against the dry earth, too stunned to move.

Everything hurt. His ears were ringing and his head throbbed with a dull ache. Gritting his teeth, Jet rolled over onto his back, shaking off rocks and dust. With unsteady hands, he brushed the dust away from his eyes.

The siege engine was _gone_. All that remained of it was a pile of rubble. What could've done this? The last thing he remembered was the wall coming down, before an incredible shockwave knocked him to the ground.

He suddenly became aware of a wet tricke running down his chin. Jet pressed his fingers against his head and brought them back to his eyes. They were red.

A quick check of the blast site was all Jet needed to know he was the only one who could still fight. The other survivors, useless to him now, were left in the rubble. Jet growled with frustration and kicked a blown off arm into a ditch. It had all been going so well! Everything had been in place: they outnumbered the town five to one, they had recruited enough earthbenders for the siege weapons and had the terrain advantage. So why were they losing!?

He didn't really need an answer, because Jet already knew why. It was that damn fucking Water Tribesman. It always was! He'd been so close to victory last time, only for Sokka to snatch it from his grasp. By the Earth spirits, Jet would have him flayed by morning for humiliating him once again.

The battle wasn't over yet. Jet still had one more trick up his sleeve, something even that buffoon couldn't see coming.

* * *

Sokka's ears rang as another devastating boom sent earth flying into the air. One more of Jet's siege formations were blown to pieces. Silently he reminded himself to develop some kind of ear protection if he was going to keep playing with explosives.

"That's the last one!" Jiro shouted over the shouts and cheers of the soldiers. "But we're not done yet! Wind's picking up. We need to be back in the town before our smoke cover gets blown away!"

"Yes, sir!" they shouted as one.

They jogged back to the town, Jiro leading the way. Arrows and rockets shot over their head. It worried Sokka that he could now see them. Jiro was right, they were losing their smoke cover!

"AH!" a soldier screamed as an arrow hit his shoulder. Another soldier caught him before he could hit the ground. Jiro sprang into action and brought up a barrier before anymore of them could be hit.

"Damn it, I thought we had more time!" a soldier despaired. "We're pinned here!"

"Not to worry. We'll get there," Jiro reassured him. The small squadron crept forward, Jiro dragging the earth barrier with them. The earthbender was breathing heavily as exhaustion started to set in.

Sokka braved a peak around the barrier at the treeline. If the arrow came from the southwest, then the archers that shot at them should be… there! He spotted a few shadowy figures well concealed amongst a rocky outcrop. Their own archers couldn't hit them.

But maybe the rockets could.

"Jiro," Sokka tried to get the earthbender's attention.

"What is it, Sokka? Can't you see I'm busy!" Jiro barked at him, straining against the unyielding earth.

"Do you think you could get the attention of the archers on the wall? If we can signal them to instruct our rocket launchers to fire on that outcropping, we'll take out the enemy archers!"

Jiro nodded and slammed his hands into the barrier to solidify it. He brought a small stone up out of the ground and cast it to the wall. It hit the palisade with a thunk.

Sokka crossed his fingers, hoping against hope that somebody heard them. A few seconds later, a familiar head of raven hair peered over the palisade.

"Kimi!" he shouted with a grin, waving to her.

She spotted them and gave them a small wave in reply, careful to keep herself out of the enemy archers line of sight. Sokka pointed over to the outcropping, then tried to mime a rocket launcher with his hands. Kimi pointed over to where the rocket crews were stationed and Sokka gave her a thumbs up in reply.

With a nod, she disappeared under the wall and Sokka sighed with relief. "Now we just have to wait. When the rockets hit, we make a break for the town."

"I'll help Hiroki," one of the soldiers offered, gesturing to the man who was still nursing an arrow wound.

Jiro nodded. "Good idea with the signalling, Sokka."

Sokka accepted the praise with a smile as he crouched down, ready to sprint for the gate. They didn't have long to wait before the sky was once again set alight.

"NOW!" Jiro shouted. He dropped the earth barrier and sprinted for the gate, the others not far behind him.

Bolts of fire sailed over the heads of the squadron as they weaved through traps and blockades. Soon enough, other enemy archers took notice of them and began shooting, but by then it was too late. Sokka leapt to the ground behind the palisade wall and breathed a sigh of relief. It felt good to be back in the safety of the walls. Even the aching pains of his shoulder wound couldn't dim his relief.

"There you are!" a familiar voice shouted. He turned to see Kimi grinning madly. "I saw you take out the last earth siege engine! Well done!"

He laughed as she helped him to his feet. "Well thanks for calling down that rocket strike. Jiro didn't look like he could've gone on much longer."

"Well thank _you_ for designing them. I've been on the wall the entire battle, they work like a charm."

Up close, Sokka could see his friend was covered in dust and small cuts. Her hair was wild and tangled, though Sokka doubted he looked any better.

If he had been paying more attention, he might have felt the ground tremble slightly beneath him.

"You holding up alright?" Sokka asked. Just then he was shoved aside as two soldiers ran past him, a stretcher to the hastily erected medic tent.

Kimi helped him regain his balance and chuckled ruefully. "Never better. Jet's archers have been easy pickings with their cover being burnt down. I don't know how we did it Sokka, but Gaipan might win this one."

In the midst of the assembly grounds, soldiers began to look around curiously as the trembling earth became noticeable.

 _Thump._ The scaffolding shook.

"Hey, do you feel that?" Sokka asked Kim as another tremble shook the ground.

"EVERYONE QUIET!" Amar ordered, and the assembled soldiers fell silent.

 _Thump._ Thump. THUMP.

Suddenly, the earth beneath their feet erupted upwards, sending dirt, rock and debris flying into the sky. SOkka watched in shocked awe as an entire rocket launcher was flipped end over end. It smashed onto a roof with a thud. Kimi yanked Sokka out of the way as a boulder punched through the spot his head had been only a moment earlier. They collapsed behind a watchtower as more rocks fell down upon them.

" **CHARGE!"**

Dozens of men burst out of the hole in the ground. A soldier who'd been knocked to the ground tried to get to his feet, only to be sent sprawling as a giant of a man crushed his chest with a warhammer. The soldier gurgled, trying desperately to draw breath but was silenced as his attacker brought the warhammer down on his head.

The rebel caught sight of Sokka and charged, only to lurch back suddenly as an arrow impaled his neck. He fell to the ground with a wimper.

"Quickly Sokka, get up!" Kimi commanded him, drawing back another arrow. Sokka drew his sword just to bat aside the tip of a spear. He stepped forward and sliced through the spearman's arm. The spearman dropped his weapon with a cry of pain, only to be silenced by an arrow piercing his chest.

The tide of battle had just been turned. All over the small courtyard, their allies were being slaughtered. Most of them never even had the chance to react as they were cut down by the seemingly endless tide pouring out of the rent ground.

"We need to get to higher ground!" Sokka told Kimi.

"Way ahead of you!" She replied, lifting him up the scaffolding and onto the sloped roof.

They worked in unison. Kimi shot an attacker while Sokka cut through a rock projectile then turned down to stab at rebels trying to climb up the scaffolding.

"Sokka, look!" Kimi pointed to where a group of three soldiers were holding the line. Two earthbenders had joined the battle and were pounding their defensive line with boulders. One of the earthbenders screamed as an arrow shot through his back. A split second later, the other fell silent as a boomerang arced through the sky and collided with his temple. Sokka caught the boomerang on it's return then spun around and cut through a spear aimed at Kimi's back. He swung upwards, slicing her attacker through the neck.

Despite their efforts, they were losing. Amar and Shin were holding off half a dozen attackers alone, but even they were showing signs of exhaustion. Jet must have had a hundred men in those tunnels. They needed a solution, and they needed it quickly.

His eyes caught sight of the barrels of black powder. These were full sized barrels, far larger than the ones he'd thrown at the siege formations. The town church, still standing defiantly amongst the carnage around it, loomed over the hole. It was in the perfect position to launch a powder barrel at their enemies.

Now if only he could get there in time without being killed.

"Kimi, I've got another idea. We need to get one of those barrels over there onto the church roof."

Kimi threw a burst of flame at another attacker. He stumbled back down the sloped tiles, falling to earth below with a sickening crunch. "Right, lead the way."

They sprinted across the roof, ducking and blocking earth projectiles and arrows alike then leaping over the gaps between the roofs until they came to the street. Sokka leapt down, landing expertly and turning around to catch Kimi.

"The black powder barrels are just around the corner. I'll roll them over, you try to find a way to get them up the tower."

"Got it!" she notched another arrow and leapt up into the scaffolds, disappearing from sight. Sokka ran for the barrels, cutting down two Freedom Fighters who didn't have the sense to stay with the group on the way.

Just as he was reaching for a barrel, a rock sailed past his nose. Sokka gulped and turned around to see an earthbender about to launch another projectile.

"Traitor!" the earthbender ripped a boulder out of the road and flung it at Sokka. He was forced to dodge boulder after boulder. If he didn't close the range between them soon, one of those boulders would score a lucky hit and he'd become a smear on the road.

Another boulder sailed towards him. This time instead of dodging, Sokka cut into it, breaking it into harmless pebbles. He threw his boomerang at the earthbender. It struck true, stunning him long enough for Sokka to get closer. But his opponent recovered quickly and brought up an earth wall between them. Sokka ducked as a part of the wall shot out where his head had been moments before. He danced around the wall and swung at the bender, who stepped back out of his reach.

But to the earthbender's surprise, there was no ground to meet him. His foot slipped backwards into a hole he'd grabbed earth from only moments earlier. Sokka seized the advantage.

"Lesson one: always maintain situational awareness," Sokka quoted as he stabbed the fallen earthbender through the heart.

* * *

"About time!" Kimi shouted down at him from the top of the clock tower. "Tie the barrel to that rope, I've got an idea."

Sokka rolled the black powder barrel to the side of the tower and fastened it to the rope. Spending most of your life making nets and ship rigging could certainly come in handy.

"Now grab on!" Kimi ordered. He'd only just got a good hold on the rope when Kimi kicked a crate of tiles off the scaffolding. The barrel shot up the tower, with Sokka holding on for dear life. He came to a stop with a lurch and rolled onto the scaffolding with a grateful sigh.

"Warn me next time, please?"

"Let's hope there isn't a next time," Kimi grinned. "I've rigged up a swing tied to the top of the church. We need to push the barrel to the end of the scaffolding," Sokka turned to look at the platform set up at the end of the roof, "then we can release it and fling it straight into those terrorists!"

"Then let's get a move on, the ground forces can't hold on much longer!"

They worked together to push the barrel forward. Up here, he could see the entire battlefield. The crescent of the treeline burned furiously behind him, but ahead all he could see were the peacefully meandering river lit by the light of the moon. On any other night, this would be beautiful.

"Good, we're ready. Now we just need to-" she was cut off as the sound of a horn carried over the sound of battle. Both teens looked to see that another man had emerged from the tunnel, wielding two wicked swords and surveying the town with a maniacal grin.

Jet had entered the battlefield.

He looked like he'd been through hell. Half of his face was stained brown with dried blood, the other half grey with caked on dust. He walked like every step was painful, yet still carried himself with the confidence of a leader.

"That's him!" Kimi exclaimed. She drew her bow and notched an arrow, leaving Sokka to struggle against the weight of the barrel alone. "Should have stayed in your forest, bastard."

Her arrow sailed through the dark and Sokka knew her aim was true. But just as it was about to hit, Jet casually raised his sword. The arrow bounced off it in a shower of sparks. He deflected the next two arrows with expert ease.

"Kimi, the plan!" he reminded her.

"Right, sorry! Let's blow them all to smithereens!" she clicked her fingers, summoning a small flame on her thumb to ignite the fuse. With a sigh of relief, he let go of the barrel, letting it swing out towards the army. Just before it reached its zenith, Kimi's knife cut through the rope and let the barrel fly freely.

Sokka smiled hopefully as the barrel arced down towards hole. It was going to hit! The world slowed down as his explosive neared it's target.

Jet turned, sensing the incoming danger as if through some unnatural premonition. What happened next, Sokka wouldn't have believed if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. A hooked sword was raised and sliced at the top of the barrel.

Cutting clean through the fuse.

The barrel hit the ground with a thud and rolled into the hole, lost in the darkness. The still burning fuse sparkled on the ground at Jet's feet, before it was smothered with a single stomp.

"No!" Kimi shouted as Jet turned up to look at them.

He drew the attention of two of the earthbenders and pointed straight at the two teens. The earthbenders nodded and sent cracks into the foundation of the church. Sokka tried to reach for Kimi's hand, but the roof between them split apart as the mighty building collapsed in on itself. He lost sight of Kimi as she was consumed by the rubble. Sokka clung onto the church steeple as it teetered and fell down to another roof, slamming into the tiles roughly.

For a moment, he just lay there, wishing for it all to be over. But no sooner had the thought gone through his head did he get back on his feet. Warriors never backed down, and if he was dying today he'd die standing. At least then Katara and his father would know he died proudly.

Jet wasted no time. He was already bounding up the side of the clock tower and onto the roof, swinging those two hooked swords down on Sokka who raised his own just in time to defend himself.

"You won't escape me this time, traitor," Jet growled as he attacked the Water Tribe teen with a vicious series of blows, each one pushing Sokka back. "I'll gut you like a pig!"

"You have to catch me first!"

Sokka needed time to make another plan, but Jet wasn't giving him a second of respite. He was barely keeping up with the rebel leader's strikes. Sparks flew and metal clashed against metal. Sokka leapt backwards onto another roof, putting enough distance between him and Jet to throw his boomerang. Jet ducked, but cried out in pain as it hit him on the way back. The boomerang ricocheted off onto the streets below, out of sight.

He tried to take advantage of Jet's stumble, but Jet ducked under his blade and sliced upwards, leaving Sokka with a shallow cut on the chest. Jet pushed him back further down the roof.

Sokka's back foot hit something and he spared a moment to look back. It was the firework launcher, the one that had been thrown onto the roof! His inattention nearly cost him as Jet struck for his head. Sokka flipped backwards over the launcher, but tripped and fell down onto the tiles.

He tried to get back up, but Jet stomped down hard on his hand, pinning his sword to the ground.

"Was it worth it? To betray your people for the Fire Nation?" Jet taunted him as he lazily twirled his blade. "Killing you would almost be a mercy. Almost."

"Was it worth it to protect innocent people? Of course," He shot back. Jet snarled and kicked him in the shoulder. He dug his boot into the week-old wound, making Sokka writhe in agony.

"Innocent? They're Fire Nation! They were _born_ guilty! The world won't ever be safe, until they're wiped out to the last. Evil is in their blood! I'm creating a better world, free of their taint! And now I'll never have to worry about you standing in my way!"

Jet raised his sword high above his head, only to cry out in pain as an arrow sprouted between his shoulder blades. He stumbled away from the downed Water Tribe warrior in agony.

"You talk too much," Kimi remarked as she drew back another arrow. The archer stood unsteadily on her feet, with dust clinging to her raven hair. But she glared defiantly back at Jet with golden eyes burning like the sun.

She released the arrow, but Jet was ready this time. He hooked his swords together and charged at her, deflecting arrows like they were a mere annoyance.

It took every ounce of Sokka's self control to not join the fight. But he had something to do. Jet was only one man; Sokka couldn't lose sight of the rest of the battle. He loaded another firework bundle into the launcher and kicked out the front support so the barrel was pointed straight at the hole. He only had one shot at this.

Just as he was about to aim the launcher, Kimi fell backwards onto him, sending them both sprawling onto the tiles. Sokka raised his sword to block Jet's follow up strike while Kimi rolled to her feet and tried to draw another arrow. But Jet sliced straight through her bowstring. The archer dropped her now useless bow and drew a hunting knife. Sokka moved so that Jet was between him and Kimi, forcing the rebel leader to fight in two directions at once.

But if that phased Jet, it certainly didn't show. He hooked his swords together and began a relentless assault against Sokka, the sharp hilt of his second sword darting around like a viper. It flashed through the air, keeping both Kimi and Sokka at bay.

Kimi took a chance and leapt at Jet, driving her dagger to his ribcage. But Jet was waiting for her. He flicked his second sword up into the air, freeing his first sword to block her strike. As she was recovering, he spun around and caught the second sword. He twisted and drove the hilt of it straight into her exposed torso.

"Kimi!" Sokka cried as she fell to the ground.

Jet turned back around to face him and grinned. "Just you and me now, Sokka."

He hooked the swords together again and renewed his assault, driving Sokka backwards away from the firework launcher.

It was over. Kimi was hurt. Sokka was tired. Each strike of Jet's came closer and closer to striking true. The still bloody hilt shot upwards past his defences, leaving a gash on Sokka's cheek. Another cut into his thigh.

But as he was pushed further back, a desperate plan took form in Sokka's head. It was incredibly risky, but there was no other option.

Jet's sword came at him in slow motion. Every sense he had was focused on this one moment. He'd need perfect reflexes to pull this move off.

As the hilt sailed towards his head, Sokka stepped forward instead of backwards. His hand reached for the one spot on the sword that wasn't sharp: the handle. He caught it, and for a moment Jet and Sokka both stood there, holding two ends of the hooked together swords. But Sokka wasn't going to wait for Jet to come to his senses. He sprinted back to the launcher, ignoring the blinding pain of his reopened shoulder wound. Jet was pulled forward by his own sword, stumbling to keep up with Sokka but stubbornly refusing to let go.

Suddenly, Sokka skidded to a stop and turned back to face Jet, raising his own sword. He thrust forward. Jet fell towards him. And with a flash of steel, Sokka impaled his opponent through the chest.

Jet stared at the blade sticking out of his chest in disbelief. A clatter sounded out as the two hooked swords fell from his numb fingers. He tried to speak, but all that came up were weak gurgles.

A groaning noise drew the attention of both warriors. Jet turned, coming face to face with the barrel of the firework launcher as Kimi pulled herself up, one hand pressing down on the wound in her torso. The other hand nursing a small fire.

"You lose, Jet," Kimi sneered down at him as she brought the flame in her hand onto the firework bundle. The launcher sparkled momentarily and with a roar unleashed a tongue of fire straight at Jet. He fell backwards, driving the sword further into his chest.

The fire continued forward, arcing down into the pit where Freedom Fighters still charged out of. It found its way down into the depths, where a barrel of black powder remained unignited. And with a tremendous boom, the earth erupted once again. The last thing Jet saw was earth and body parts flying through the sky as his once mighty army was blown to pieces. And then… nothing.

The tunnel collapsed in on itself with a shudder, burying the remaining Freedom Fighters in cold earth. With a relieved sigh, Sokka allowed himself to fall to the ground. The battle was over. They had _won_.

Kimi crawled over to him weakly, then rolled over onto her back.

"We did it," she whispered weakly.

"So, does this mean we're friends again?" Sokka asked, looking up at the stars. She laughed, and he soon joined her.

They laughed together, until their exhaustion caught up with them and they drifted off into blissful oblivion, sounds of battle fading into nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

"Look Ah Lam, he's awake!"

Sokka screwed his eyes tightly, not wanting to face the world right now. The world was cruel and didn't like him. Every part of his body hurt, there were aches in places he never even knew he had. Could he not just enjoy the numbness of sleep for one more hour?

"Well don't yell it in the poor boy's ear, Moriko" Ah Lam chastised.

"M'sorry," she mumbled.

"Now be a dear and fetch him some soup."

"Okie dokie!"

With a heavy sigh, Sokka opened his eyes. Warm autumn wind blew through his dirty hair, making the brown tarpaulin roof vibrate gently with a faint humming noise. It was peaceful.

He tried to get to his feat, but a gentle hand pressed him back down on the bed.

"Easy now, let Ah Lam check your injuries first," Kimi's face came into view, giving him a brilliant smile. Her torso was wrapped in bandage and her hair dusty and unkempt, but she stood proud and happy.

Sokka was suddenly alert. "The attack! Is everything OK?"

Kimi grinned, pressing him down on his back again. "It's more than OK. We won, Sokka! We finally defeated those rebels, once and for all!"

He sighed, falling back on his pillow with relief. Jet was defeated, Gaipan was safe and he lived another day.

Moriko returned with a bowl of soup, which Sokka drank eagerly. He hadn't eaten a proper meal for days now. Kimi left him in Moriko's care to tend to the many other patients in the tent.

"I saw those rockets! They were super awesome!" Moriko giggled, breaking the peaceful silence.

Sokka gave her a critical look. "I thought I told you to protect the other kids?"

She guiltily looked down at her feet. "Well… I did! But there were so many big booms and then the earth started shaking. We didn't feel safe in the basement, so we moved up to the first floor. I saw the rockets in the window!"

"Good thinking!" He tousled her hair affectionately. "The basement might have collapsed when the tunnel caved in, so I'm glad you got everybody out."

Moriko beamed at the praise.

Ah Lam returned with more bandages. She moved over to Sokka and peeled away the bandage on his arm.

"Moriko, can you please see if the healers in the other tent need any help?"

She nodded so fast her head looked like it might come off. "Ok. Goodbye Sokka!"

Ah Lam sighed as the girl ran out of the tent and turned back to Sokka. "I hope you don't mind Moriko being here. We've got a lot of injured and she volunteered to help. She's got the makings of a good healer."

Tiny jolts of pain shot up his spine as Ah Lam gave his shoulder wound a few experimental prods before reapplying an ointment to it.

"How many injured are there?" Sokka asked, getting straight to the point.

"A lot less than I could've hoped for," Ah Lam smiled. Carefully she wrapped a clean bandage around his wound. "That should be it. Do try not to get involved in any wars for the next few weeks, please?"

"No promises," he replied cheekily. The healer sighed and left him on the cot to attend to other patients.

Sokka swung his legs off the cot and walked to the tent flap unsteadily. Now on his feet, he could see the rows upon rows of beds set up in the tent. There were many people hurt, yet the atmosphere was positively jubilant. Villagers talked with their neighbours, parents read books to their children and soldiers got some well-needed sleep.

"Hey, wait up!" A voice called out from behind him. He turned and saw Kimi waving for him to stop.

"Aren't you busy?"

"I'm only here to heat wounds, Ah Lam doesn't need me anymore."

They walked together in companionable silence. Neither of them really knew what to say to the other. Sokka had been through too much with Kimi to go back to being strangers to each other. He'd never opened up like that to anybody but Katara and in turn she'd shared some of her most vulnerable moments and feelings with him. And yet he'd probably never see her again. On their journey to the north, the trio had never spent more than a day or two in each village. It was so much easier to leave a village behind when they didn't have enough time to foster new friendships.

As he walked, Sokka surveyed the damage to the town. Though the church had been strong enough to survive the flood, it was now a pile of rubble pushed aside to clear the roads. Holes had been punched through roofs and arrows were still buried in the walls of houses. To his relief the courtyard had been cleared of bodies, but it would take weeks before Gaipan could fill up the massive crater that scared it or rebuild the destroyed watchtowers. The palisade wall was similarly damaged, with huge chunks of it missing. Through the gaps Sokka had an unobstructed view of the torn up battlefield, still littered with ditches, traps and bodies.

But as he saw the people of Gaipan sweeping away the rubble or hammering in nails on damaged roofs, Sokka knew that it could have been a lot worse. Gaipan would recover, stronger than ever.

Passing by the town centre, Sokka caught sight of a still unburnt wooden stake. The ropes had been cut through and there was no sign of the girl who was supposed to be tied to it.

"What happened to Smellerbee?"

Kimi gave the stake a dirty look. "She must have escaped sometime during the battle. They did a search of the town in the morning, a few hours before I woke up. But all they discovered was that a boat was missing from the shoreline. _My_ boat."

"Ouch. That poor boat. All alone and uncared for. Such a tragedy haunts the nightmares of any true-blooded native of the Southern Water Tribe."

He winces as she hit him gently on the back. "Asshole."

"Hey I'm being serious! There is no greater bond than between a man- or woman! - and their ship. Smellerbee is probably chopping it for firewood, the sociopath."

This got a laugh from Kimi.

"By now she's probably halfway through the forest," Kimi told him with a sigh. "She'll be marked down as wanted, but there are so many places to hide out here. I doubt she'll ever be made to pay for her crimes."

"Maybe not, if there happened to be a brilliant tracker who had experience with hunting things in that forest?" Sokka asked pointedly.

Kimi shook her head. "I'm not staying here."

"You're not?" Sokka asked. This was news to him

"Nope. Lieutenant Shin wrote a letter of recommendation to one of his General friends. With somebody of Lieutenant Shin's reputation vouching for me I'm basically guaranteed a position in the Army Scouts! I'll be leaving Gaipan in a few weeks."

Sokka, despite himself, felt happy for his friend. This was her dream. And even if he couldn't comprehend why she'd want to join the Fire Nation Army, he was glad she got to follow her dream. It felt weird to be happy for a future enemy, but Sokka was long past the point of questioning it.

"Well I'm happy for you. Seriously," Sokka congratulated her. "It's a pity I won't get to see you in action, since I'll be heading off to Fire Nation prison."

 _If I don't escape first_. He added silently. Most of the remaining soldiers were injured and those that weren't were too busy being merry to notice him slip away. His chances were looking pretty good.

"Oh really?" A morose voice spoke out from behind him. Sokka cursed and turned to see Amar standing formally in his Fire Nation armour, flanked on either side by Akio and Jiro.

 _Crap_. Did he really admit he was trying to escape that out loud?

"Well, if you _want_ to be sent to a prison camp, that is your decision," Amar continued. "But then I would have made poor Akio pack this for nothing."

He gestured to the Fire Nation scout, who Sokka noticed had a travel pack slung over his shoulder. It was coloured a familiar Water Tribe blue. This was his travel pack!

"You… you're letting me go!?" Sokka didn't believe it. Why would they do this?

"Yes, try to contain your disappointment. Now that my granddaughter is joining the army, I thought she could do with some target practice and the Fire Nation unfortunately has rules about shooting prisoners," Amar sighed and gestured to the gathered townspeople. "Plus there is the small matter of us owing our lives to you. Again. I don't know about where you are from, but the Fire Nation takes such things very seriously."

Akio stepped forward to give Sokka the travel pack. "Take care of yourself, Sokka."

He accepted the pack gratefully and bowed slightly to Akio then Amar. Kimi gave him a comforting pack on the back. Sokka still couldn't believe it. He didn't need to escape or run; the Fire Nation was just going to let him go.

Giving the bag a quick check only made the situation all the more unbelievable. Wrapped neatly in red silk was a bundle of healing supplies. Not only was Sokka going to be returning to Katara and Aang alive, he wasn't going to do it empty-handed.

Amar continued on unabated. "But really, your freedom alone isn't enough to repay the debt we owe you. You may be unfamiliar with Fire Nation honorifics, given your background. They are granted to individuals who have done great deeds in the service of others."

Sokka hid his confusion. Why was Amar giving him a history lesson?

"I was granted the title of Dauntless for disobeying orders to defend a mountain pass with only fifty men against an entire Earth Kingdom army. You chose to help your enemy, even though you could've let us be swept away in that flash flood or escaped during the battle like that prisoner."

Admittedly the thought had occurred to him. But that just felt _wrong_. Sokka didn't really know why. Whatever the reason, he felt like he had made the right choice. If he had chosen to fleet, it would eat at him for the rest of his life.

"But you didn't. You helped us fight back by designing weapons that turned the tide of battle and stopped their main attack. And for that, I use my authority as lord of this town to grant you the honorific 'Hero of Gaipan'. Take it with pride."

Kimi gasped beside him. He turned to see her looking between Sokka and her grandfather slack-jawed.

And before Sokka's eyes, Amar bowed low to him.

"Thank you," Sokka replied, returning the bow instinctively.

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from spreading your new honorific too far," Amar rose from the bow. "The Fire Nation respects a life debt, but certain powerful individuals may make life _difficult_ for this town if they find out we let the Avatar's companion go free."

"I understand."

"One final thing. Jiro, you have something of Sokka's?"

The earthbender nodded. "Of course, sir."

He unclipped a scabbard from his belt and handed it to Sokka. The scabbard was made of a tough black leather, sitting snugly around a gleaming metal sword. Sokka drew the sword, feeling the now familiar weight in his hands.

"I thought you'd want that back," Jiro grinned at him. "It seems to have served you well. I have to say, I was very impressed when I found it. By both of you," he turned to look at Kimi. "If I assume correctly that was your arrow in the rebel leader's shoulder?"

Kimi nodded numbly, too stunned to speak.

"Well, good work both of you. Teja would have been proud of you both, if she hadn't been too busy complaining she wasn't the one to finish Jet off," Jiro sighed, turning away as his eyes grew misty.

Amar gave the earthbender a sympathetic look but stepped past him. "Now, I expect you won't stick around for much longer. Kimi, you may accompany Sokka back to his campsite if you so desire. I've got a speech to deliver."

He left them in the courtyard, alone. Blue eyes met gold as they both tried to wrap their heads around what just happened.

"Wow!" Kimi breathed, "'Hero of Gaipan' indeed! Sokka, I hope you understand how big of a deal this is! Grandfather was one rank short of a General, an honorific from him…"

"I'm still getting over the 'free to leave' part," Sokka admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Kimi huffed. "I know your opinion of my country isn't the best, but we know how to show appreciation!"

"Yeah well-"

Just then, Cetaka rounded the corner and nearly barreled into the two teens. For a man without a leg, he could move surprisingly quickly.

"Ah good, you're still here!" he yelled in his booming voice. "I've got something to give to you Sokka."

Cetaka handed him a worn hardcover book. The edges were frayed and the paper a pale yellow colour, but Sokka accepted the gift with thanks. He opened the book up to a random page and was met with a diagram of strange symbols.

"Thank you. But… er… what is it?"

"It's my old chemistry textbook. That thing contains a reference guide to many of the reactions and processes that let those fireworks we love fly."

Sokka's eyes widened. "I can't take this! Don't you need it?"

"HA HA HA! The last time I opened that book, you two were still getting diaper changes from your mommy! I memorised most of those pages a long time ago and what I haven't is written down in my own research books."

He didn't know what to say. This simple book, with a cover so worn Sokka couldn't even read the title, contained the secrets to an art just as magical as bending. He could learn so much… _accomplish_ so much with it. And Cetaka was just giving it to him.

"You don't have to thank me," the blacksmith continued. "You've more than earned it, if only for that trick you pulled with the fireworks. It would be a crime for that talent to be wasted."

"I don't know what to say… Thank you."

"Aw, don't go getting soft on me!" Cetaka laughed. He gave Sokka a rough pat on the shoulder, oblivious to the pain it caused him.

"Now, I'm off. Amar wants to make a post victory speech. You'll forgive me if I don't wish you good luck in getting the Avatar to the North Pole."

He left with a short wave, leaving the Watertribesman alone with Kimi again. Sokka delicately placed the book in his travel back. He'd read it when he got back to camp.

"So, are we leaving now?" Kimi asked.

Sokka gave an unsure shrug. "I suppose it's time."

Kimi sighed in disappointment and gestured to the forest.

"Lead the way."

Far behind them, Amar stepped up onto a podium, drawing the attention of the assembled crowd.

"Today, we celebrate crushing victory over the terrorists that plague our forests! They threw everything they had at us! Archers, earthbenders, even the river itself. And you people, the brave men and women of Gaipan, weathered every blow. But yesterday, with help from the esteemed soldiers of our glorious Fire Nation and an unlikely friend, we finally struck back. The leaders of their cursed rebellion have been slain, their army broken and their ambitions crushed! Tomorrow, we will rebuild our homes and mourn the loss of those that fell as we light our funeral pyres. But today, we celebrate our victory!"

The cheers were deafening.

* * *

The sun had begun its descent when Sokka stopped. Kimi took a few more steps before realising he was no longer keeping pace with her. She turned to face him.

"Why have we stopped?"

Sokka glanced off into the trees. "We're close. Our camp is only a few minutes away."

"Oh," she blinked. "I suppose it would be best if I-"

"You could stay," Sokka interrupted. She glanced sharply at him and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I mean, you could come with us. If you want. I'm sure Aang and Katara would be glad to have you on the team."

Kimi turned to face him, but there was a distant look in her eyes. Far above them clouds drifted lazily through the clear blue sky. And for the briefest of moments, the Fire Nation girl felt a soft breeze caress her skin. Then she turned away.

"You know I can't do that. I won't betray my nation."

"Yeah… I know."

"But, if you wanted, you could come back with me?" Kimi offered. "You're a good warrior and a cunning strategist. You'd go far in the Fire Nation."

"I can't do that either." Sokka was surprised to find that he actually considered her offer, if only for a brief second. But it was impossible. The Fire Nation may not be as evil as he once believed, but he'd never join them.

"Then I guess this is goodbye."

In the time he'd spent in Gaipan, Kimi had been Sokka's closest friend. There was nobody his age back in his home village except Katara and being around Aang often felt like a job. Maybe that would change in the future, but for now Kimi was possibly the only friend he really had outside of his family. He'd be lying if he said he wouldn't miss her. But between his sister and his new friend? The choice was easy.

"I suppose it is. Goodbye, Kimi."

Kimi leapt forward. He tensed, but relaxed as he felt her warm arms around him.

"Take care of yourself, Sokka," she whispered, tightening the hug. Sokka held her close, leaning into her hold.

It was Kimi who broke away first. She gave him one final nod and walked back into the forest. Sokka's eyes followed her until she disappeared from sight. Longing quickly turned into excitement as he pushed through the last few metres of forest. Even though he missed his friend, the thought of reuniting with Katara again drowned out his melancholy with elation.

He could see a flickering campfire welcoming him home.

* * *

Sokka curled up in his sleeping bag. Both eyes were shut tight, but the thoughts racing through his mind would not let him sleep. The reunion had been everything he expected. Katara had ran up to embrace him, tears of relief running down her face.

" _I was so worried! What took you so long?" Katara cried, holding him tighter._

_Sokka gave her a comforting pat on the back. "I got held up. Jet wasn't quite finished with me."_

_Her eyes caught sight of the bandages wrapped around his shoulder. "Oh my- Sokka, you're hurt!"_

" _It'll heal."_

_Katara didn't seem convinced, but she led him back to the campsite. Aang welcomed him back, but disappeared to tend to Appa as soon as Sokka handed him the medicine. The Sky Bison groaned weekly but accepted the foul-smelling concoction with a few words of encouragement from Aang. They didn't question the red silk it came with._

" _Aang's been like that all week," Katara explained sadly. "Appa can barely keep food down without Aang convincing him to eat. I hope your medicine works."_

_She handed him a bowl of food which he devoured eagerly. Katara laughed at the sight._

" _I'm glad you're back, Sokka. I was about ready to bust into that town myself."_

_Sokka shivered at the thought of Katara on the frontlines of that battle. She was certainly capable of handling herself, but one stray arrow…_

" _Well, I'm here now. So you don't have to worry."_

With a long sigh, Sokka rolled over onto his back and stared up at the tent roof. Katara had asked him about what he'd been doing in Gaipan, but he dodged her questions. It would just worry her. The last thing he wanted was for Katara to pry and discover that he'd been nearly killed without her there to protect him. Or worse, that her own actions had killed people. It would crush her spirit.

"Hey Sokka."

He glanced down to see Katara poking her head through the tent flap. She pushed through and sat beside him, leaning her back against the tent wall.

"How are you doing?" she asked finally.

Sokka closed his eyes. "I'm tired. It's been a… difficult week."

"That makes two of us. I haven't been sleeping well."

They drifted into awkward silence. Katara looked over his injuries, then her eyes caught the new scabbard lying near his leg. She picked it up delicately and slid the scabbard down halfway, revealing the flame insignia on his new sword.

"Sokka, be honest. What happened in Gaipan?"

"Jet attacked the village again. He had his rebels in the forest, they wouldn't let anyone leave. That's why I took so long. My club broke so the villagers gave me that to help them with the defence. After the attack, they were grateful enough to let me keep the sword and sent me back with some medicine and supplies."

So long as Katara never asked about the state the village was in, Sokka felt like he could be honest with her. But some things he'd learnt and seen in Gaipan he'd take to the grave.

Katara gave him a stern look. "That's not why you're upset, is it?"

"What makes you think I'm upset?"

"I'm your sister, I know these things. Call it intuition. You haven't been like this since da- in a long time."

Though he didn't mean to do so, Sokka couldn't stop himself from spilling out the thoughts that were plaguing him.

"I made a close friend, but she wants to join the Fire Nation army. I killed somebody and I still can't bring myself to feel bad about it. I fought alongside Fire Nation soldiers willingly to protect Fire Nation civilians and even though I know they are supposed to be our enemies I still sympathised with them. I'm still not sure I did the right thing. Was it wrong of me to choose the lives of Fire Nationals over Jet's gang? Or should I have tried to slip out and leave Gaipan to its fate?"

Seeing Katara's concerned face made him instantly regretful. His sister still felt the pain of their mother's death like it was fresh. Katara had seen Kya be _burnt alive_ and still had nightmares about it. So it was Sokka's job to be her emotional support. It wasn't fair for him to burden her with his own problems when she had so many of her own.

"I… I think whatever option you chose would be the best one, Sokka. You may be immature and nutbrained-"

"Hey!"

"But if you thought you were doing the right thing, I'm sure you were. You have good judgement…"

His chest swell with pride.

"...sometimes," Katara finished, smirking down at him. She laughed at the weak glare he gave her. Sokka couldn't hold the glare for long and joined her laughing. He'd missed these moments.

"And don't worry about your Fire Nation friend, I'm sure you'll meet her again."

The laughter died.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Oh," Katara's eyes widened. She looked down guiltily.

Sokka turned away from her, looking back up into nothingness. Katara silently lied down on the tent floor next to him. Maybe he'd underestimated his sister. Katara wasn't the vulnerable child she used to be. Already she was becoming an amazingly powerful bender. Perhaps somewhere along the line, she'd outgrown the need for his protection.

That was a comforting through. Deep down, not being able to protect Katara was his greatest fear. Sharing his feelings made him feel weak, like he was no longer capable of protecting her. _That_ was why he was so terrified of seeing Kimi again. His friend may show mercy to him, but to Katara? Not likely. Kimi was Fire Nation to the bone and Katara had killed civilians, even if it was unknowingly. She would kill Katara without hesitation.

Having to kill a close friend to save his sister was a nightmare Sokka didn't want to imagine. And he prayed Katara never found out the depths of his fear.

"Hey Sokka," Katara tilted her head to look at him.

"Yeah?"

She looked back up at the ceiling. "You know, yesterday was the day Mum died."

Though she spoke stoically, her eyes betrayed the depths of her sadness. They were watery and fragile, lacking that spark of resilience he'd grown to associate with Katara and only Katara. He'd been wrong. No matter how strong she seemed, Sokka knew Katara was emotionally fragile. She still needed him, but that was OK. He'd always be here for her.

"Oh. Katara… I'm sorry I wasn't there. That must have been hard for you."

"It's fine. I went out to look at the constellations, the ones she used to point out to us. I think she was with me. In a way."

Sokka closed his eyes, feeling the hard ground, cool wind and gentle warmth surrounding him. Yesterday, he had been fighting for his life. The date had slipped his mind completely.

"I think she'd be very proud of you Katara," Sokka whispered. Truthfully, he didn't know for certain. He couldn't remember his mum in the same way Katara could. But what mother wouldn't be proud of their daughter?

"Thanks Sokka."

And for the first time in weeks, Sokka fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	11. Teaser for sequel

"Early into the war, the Fire Nation invaded the Water Tribes. At the time, the North and South Pole were united under one High Chief. Your grandfather, Chief Amaguk, was in the North Pole when the Fire Nation blockaded their capital. At the time Fire Nation victory seemed like a certainty, but one day we learnt that half their navy had withdrawn. We're not sure why. Hakoda thinks the Fire Nation shifted focus to securing the Western Lake, but your grandfather knew an opportunity when he saw one. He rallied the Water Tribe fleets and led a counterattack which saved the city. He sought to use the fleets to counter the invasion of the South Pole then break the Fire Nation's naval power, turning the tide of the war."

Bato stoked the fire, but his eyes were fixed on some invisible thing on the horizon. Sokka shivered in the furs. He stared into the swirling flames, like he'd done so many nights back home. But Sokka felt the pain in Bato's words. The undercurrent of anger. These flames could bring him no warmth tonight.

"The chiefs of the North had other ideas. They signed their own peace treaty with the Fire Nation. A peace treaty that gave our enemies free reign to raze our tribe. The Northern fleets went back home and Amaguk was stripped of his position on the Water Council, sent back home to fight the Fire Nation all alone."

The first half of this story, Sokka had heard before. Hakoda was always happy to share stories about his own father, and this was Sokka's favourite. The other part, about the Northern Water Tribe's peace treaty with the Fire Nation? That was something Sokka only ever overheard in hushed conversations in the dead of night, not meant for the ears of children. Hakoda was not a violent man, but it was hard to recall times when he'd ever been as angry as he was on those nights.

"I'm sure you knew that already," Bato stated. Sokka nodded slowly, allowing Bato to continue. "But what you might not have heard is what your father did when he became chief. He travelled north, to persuade the Northern Tribe's council to honour the pacts they made with us and rejoin the war. They turned him away."

Another gust of wind blew open the shutters, sending shivers down their spines. The fire flickered feebly until it was little more than embers. Sokka got up to close the shutters.

"I think I get what you're telling me," Sokka began, sitting back down next to Bato. "You think they might not even agree to train Aang and Katara at all?"

"Oh it will be a miracle if they train Katara in anything she'd want to learn, but that's another discussion entirely. No Sokka, what I have to tell you is far more serious. Your father made two more trips to the North Pole, one of them just after you were born. They denied him again."

"And the other?"

"One month before your mother died. When Katara started bending, your father travelled north to ask the chiefs to send a master south. They refused. Hakoda tried to persuade them, even offering to send Katara north to train. But they were adamant. They would not help the Southern Water Tribe in any way."

He never knew Hakoda had been searching for somebody to train Katara.

"But surely they'd train the Avatar?" Sokka asked.

Bato cupped his hands over the fire, staring into its flames.

"That isn't the problem you should be concerned about. Think Sokka. Hakoda told nobody outside our tribe about Katara's bending. Nobody, except the Northern Water Tribe. And only a month later the Fire Nation came searching for a waterbender in the south. How did they even know to start searching?"

This time, it wasn't the wind that made Sokka shiver. "But that would mean-"

"Yes. Somebody in the North Pole betrayed our tribe to the Fire Nation."

* * *

Conspiracy in the North

_On the journey to the mystical land of the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka learns a terrible truth: somebody betrayed his tribe to the Fire Nation. In the north, not everything is as it seems. He soon discovers that in the shade cast by gleaming towers and elegant palaces, nobles slice throats in bids for power while a malignant criminal underworld spreads under the blind eye of justice. Beneath it all a dark conspiracy lurks, silently plotting the downfall of the beautiful city on the ice._

_Can Sokka uncover the plot against the Water Tribe before it's too late?_

**So here's the teaser for the upcoming sequel to Hero of Gaipan. As you can guess, this story is going to include elements of a mystery novel. My writing process will be the same as it was for Hero of Gaipan: I'm going to have a complete draft for the entire story before I even post the first chapter. Often I'll be writing the end chapter and want to include or exclude elements from previous chapters, so it's useful for me to be able to edit previous chapters. Plus, finishing the whole story then returning to polish individual chapters means I can read the chapters with fresh eyes thus catching more errors. It improves the overall quality of my writing.**

**As such, you will have to wait a while before I start posting chapters again. I will be around to answer questions or discuss the story, but you're going to have to be patient. Once I've finished, I'll return to a roughly weekly update schedule.**


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